Department of Health and Social Care

Public Health: Finance

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what  the value was of reductions to the local authority public health grant in each year since 2014; and what estimate he has made of trends in the level of funding for that grant in the next three years.

Seema Kennedy: The information requested is shown in the following table.YearPublic Health Grant Allocation (£ billion)Change in budget (£billion)2013/142.663-2014/152.795+0.1282015/16*3.031+0.2362016/173.387+0.3562017/18**3.304-0.0832018/193.219-0.0852019/203.134-0.085Notes:*Funding public health services for children aged 0-5 was transferred from the National Health Service to local authorities from October 2015.** Figures from 2017/18 include funding retained by the Greater Manchester local authority as part of a business rate retention pilot not allocated as grant. Future funding for local authority public health function will be a matter for the Spending Review.

Public Health: Transport

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the merits of NICE proposals for pedestrians, cyclists and people who use public transport to have priority over motorised transport when building roads; and what the role of public health bodies in such decisions should be.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England (PHE) supports National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and is a registered stakeholder for developing NICE guidelines and quality standards. Guidance on physical activity and the environment covers the physical infrastructure and planning needed to make non-motorised transport an easier option, including how to improve the physical environment to encourage and support physical activity, and is available to view at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng90 The recommendations in this guideline should be read alongside NICE's guideline on physical activity: walking and cycling, available to view at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph41 PHE works with the planning sector to help implement NICE guidance through the co-production of resources including ‘Working Together to Promote Active Travel: A briefing for local authorities’ which draws on the evidence used in NICE guidance, available to view at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523460/Working_Together_to_Promote_Active_Travel_A_briefing_for_local_authorities.pdfLocal authorities also play a key role in supporting local planning decisions.

NHS: Cybercrime

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of vulnerability of NHS Microsoft operating systems to cyber attack.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are supporting National Health Service organisations to upgrade their existing Microsoft Windows operating systems, allowing them to reduce potential vulnerabilities and increase cyber resilience.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on making (a) Orkambi and (b) Symkevi available on the NHS for people diagnosed with cystic fibrosis; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England are leading the dialogue with Vertex Pharmaceuticals on access to their portfolio of cystic fibrosis medicines, including Orkambi and Symkevi.NHS England has proposed an offer that would represent the largest ever commitment of its kind in the history of the National Health Service - in the region of £500 million over five years - and would provide immediate access for patients to all Vertex licensed medicines in advance of assessment by NICE. The Government fully supports the approach that NICE and NHS England are adopting. It is crucial that patients have access to the most effective and innovative medicines at a price that represents value to the NHS.My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care held a meeting on 11 March with all the parties to discuss how best to reach a deal so that people with cystic fibrosis and their families can benefit as soon as possible. Vertex, NICE and NHS England subsequently met on Thursday 21 March and have agreed to continue discussions.

Opiates: Prescriptions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250763 on Opiates: Prescriptions, if he will make it his policy to include direct hyperlinks to reports or materials referenced in written answers to hon. Members.

Caroline Dinenage: Further to the answer to Question 250763, the Care Quality Commission’s controlled drugs annual reports are available at the following links: ‘The safer management of controlled drugs: Annual update 2017’ (published July 2018).https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20180718_controlleddrugs2017_report.pdf ‘The safer management of controlled drugs: Annual update 2016’ (published July 2017).https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20170718_controlleddrugs2016_report.pdf ‘The safer management of controlled drugs: Annual report 2015’ (published July 2016).https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20160714_controlleddrugs2015_report.pdf ‘The safer management of controlled drugs: Annual report 2014’ (published July 2015).https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20150716_safer_management_controlled_drugs_annual_report_2014.pdf ‘The safer management of controlled drugs: Annual report 2013’ (published August 2014).https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20140811%20CQC%20Controlled%20drugs%20annual%20report%202013%20final.pdf

Pregnancy

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the paper entitled, Continuation of Unintended Pregnancy published by the Catholic Medical Association in March 2019, what plans his Department has to develop and improve support for mothers who wish to continue with a pregnancy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Women who access healthcare services when pregnant have consultations and conversations with their health care professionals covering their clinical and social history and will be offered tailored advice and support. Care and advice is available to all pregnant women, including those for whom the pregnancy was unintended.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for NHS prescription forms to be amended to include tick boxes for universal credit.

Seema Kennedy: A revised version of the FP10 prescription form, featuring a dedicated tick-box for use by Universal Credit claimants who meet the criteria for free National Health Service prescriptions, recently received Ministerial clearance. Any change involves major system and software updates across the NHS to allow the re-designed form to be used and processed. The revised paper form is currently being prepared for testing, to ensure it is compatible with the scanners used by the NHS Business Services Authority. The revised form will be introduced at the earliest opportunity.

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce the differential in spending on mental health support between different parts of the country.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups vary to meet the needs of local populations, including mental health need. These allocations are determined by a formula managed for the National Health Service by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are required to continue to increase investment in mental health services in line with the mental health investment standard. In 2017/18, all CCGs met the standard. For 2019/20, the standard requires CCGs to increase spend by at least their overall programme allocation growth, plus an additional percentage increment to reflect the additional mental health funding included in CCG allocations for 2019/20.

Mental Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to record national figures on patient discharge from community mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: National figures on patients discharged from community mental health services in England are recorded and can be extracted from data collected by NHS Digital as part of the Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS).This breakdown of the data is not published by NHS Digital and there are no current plans to do so.To note, the MHSDS data collection is still experimental and should be interpreted with caution.

Perinatal Mortality

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a report on proposals to change the law on the registration of stillborn babies before the 24 week viability threshold.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Pregnancy Loss Review was commissioned by the Department in March 2018. The Terms of Reference for the Review include considering whether it would, on balance, be beneficial to look at legislative options to amend existing primary legislation to allow parents to register a miscarriage if they so wish. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/pregnancy-loss-review-groupThe Department expects to publish the Review report by the end of the year.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Migrant Workers

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question 251433 on NHS: Migrant Workers, whether he has made an estimate of the number of EU nationals who left their jobs at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between 2010 and 2015.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers.The following table shows the number of EU27 joiners and leavers, to and from, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as at September each year since 2009 to 2015, headcount.Time PeriodEU27 joiners to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustEU27 leavers from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustSeptember 2009 – September 20101327September 2010 – September 20114517September 2011 – September 201213041September 2012 – September 201315460September 2013 – September 2014396100September 2014 – September 2015599165 In November 2011 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust dissolved with services transferring its staff to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Consequently, EU27 leavers from Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in November 2011.The following table shows the number of EU27 joiners and leavers, to and from, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust as at September each year since until November 2011, headcount.Time PeriodEU27 joiners to Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS TrustEU27 leavers from Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS TrustSeptember 2009 – September 2010125September 2010 – September 2011156September 2011 – November 2011-56 Nationality is self-reported.Joiners and leavers data from the trusts may include staff that have come from or left to join other National Health Service trusts.Leavers data includes people leaving active service temporarily, this would include those going on maternity leave or career break.

Paediatrics: Staff

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will support the Children and Young People's Transformation Programme within the NHS Long Term Plan by (a) publishing the Government's timetable for the implementation of the paediatric Workforce Implementation Plan and (b) guaranteeing that the Workforce Implementation Plan will be fully-funded from the public health budget.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 May 2019 to Question 249197. Whilst there are no plans for a specific ‘paediatric Workforce Implementation Plan’, the NHS People Plan will include those working with children and young people. A final Plan will be published following the 2019 Spending Review.

NHS

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effectiveness of planning by (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) hospitals in England for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is leading the response to the European Union exit across the health and care sector. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement ensure the National Health Service is as prepared as possible in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.In light of the extension of the Article 50 period to 31 October 2019, we are working with our stakeholders to review the position carefully, before sharing further guidance at the earliest opportunity. The Department, alongside NHS England and NHS Improvement, are ensuring that there is regular communication with frontline NHS organisations and partners, including hospital trusts, about EU exit preparations.Professor Keith Willett, Strategic Commander for EU Exit at NHS England and NHS Improvement, wrote to clinical commissioning group and trust Chief Executives on 18 April 2019 to update them on the further extension to Article 50, and the actions that now need to be taken locally to continue to prepare for the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU.NHS England and NHS Improvement are keen to ensure that the EU exit structures and preparations put in place nationally, regionally and locally are adapted for this extension, and have emphasised that organisations should continue to have an EU exit Senior Responsible Officer overseeing plans and preparations.

Learning Disability: Health Services

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people with learning disabilities have undertaken an annual health check in each year since April 2017.

Caroline Dinenage: The information is not available in the format requested.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2019 to Question 247685 on Suicide, how many local authorities have policies to tackle financial difficulty in their suicide prevention plans.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government consulted on the Breathing Space programme between October 2018 and January 2019. Breathing Space is a statutory debt repayment plan which aims to give people in problem debt the opportunity to take control of their finances and put them on a sustainable footing. The scheme includes a specific mechanism to make it easier for people experiencing a mental health crisis to access support. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.The National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights groups that need tailored approaches to address their mental health needs to reduce their suicide risk, including people who are vulnerable due to social or economic circumstances. We are working with the local government sector to assess the effectiveness of those plans, and a report will be published shortly that highlights areas of best practice and areas for improvement. This report will include an analysis of the extent to which local authority plans are addressing high risk groups.

Death

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Clinical Commissioning Groups have put in place plans to identify avoidable deaths.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Postnatal Depression: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have taken their own lives in the first year after the birth of their child in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The maternal mortality rates by suicide, per 100,000 maternities up to one year post-partum are set out in the following table.Cause of death2010-122011-132012-142013-152014-16Psychiatric Causes – Suicide1013141216Source: MBRRACE-UK, Office for National Statistics, National Records Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Data for United Kingdom.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Political Parties: Fines

Luke Hall: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2019 to Question 203928 and the Answer of 8 January 2019 to Question 205307, on Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000: Fines, if the Speaker's Committee will undertake a review of whether it is an appropriate and proportionate enforcement policy practice by the Electoral Commission for a political party to be fined £6,000 for submitting a quarterly reporting one day after the deadline.

Bridget Phillipson: It is not the remit of the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, to scrutinise the Electoral Commission’s enforcement policies.Parliament made it an offence to deliver, without reasonable excuse, donation reports that are inaccurate or miss the statutory deadline. Parliament gave the Commission investigation and sanction powers for these, and other, offences. Parliament also set out a legal right of appeal for those sanctioned by the Commission, including on the grounds that the amount of the penalty is unreasonable.

European Parliament: Elections

Cat Smith: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2019 to Question 248046 on European Parliament: Elections, which sections of the (a) Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended), (b) Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (as amended) and (c) European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001 apply to that Answer.

Bridget Phillipson: The applicable sections of the legislation are as follows: Section 13B, Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended), Regulation 29, Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (as amended), Regulation 6, European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001.

Department for Work and Pensions

Property: Sales

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of amending legislation on the transfer of ownership of high hazard sites to third parties.

Justin Tomlinson: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH) which require the Competent Authority (which is HSE and the relevant environmental body acting jointly) to be notified in the event of certain changes about a site, including its permanent closure or change of operator name. HSE has no plans to amend this legislation.

Autism

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she make it her policy to provide autism awareness training for staff in (a) her Department and (b) Jobcentres.

Will Quince: DWP has a Diversity and Equality Policy Statement. Every person working for the Department has a personal responsibility for implementing and promoting these commitments in their day-to-day dealings with customers, with each other and with employers and partners. Inappropriate behaviour is not acceptable. DWP have developed Autism Awareness training for all DWP operational staff, using information from the National Autistic Society. This training explains what Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are and how they may impact on a claimants’ daily life, including how this impacts individuals differently. This helps DWP staff be aware of how they can offer appropriate support. The training also focuses on what support DWP can provide to help customers with ASD secure employment, highlighting the tailored support available and focusing on what positive strengths customers with ASD can offer a prospective employer. Within the Fundamental Learning Journey for all DWP Operational roles, we have learning for Supporting Vulnerable Adults (hosted by Civil Service Learning), Safeguarding children and for Adults and Equality and Diversity. There is DWP technical learning specifically for staff who need to look at medical evidence for particular medical conditions as part of their job role. This covers the likely care needs for more common medical conditions and signposts to more detailed guidance.

Winter Fuel Payments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential cost of amending annual Winter Fuel Payment letters to include a paragraph inviting recipients to donate their payment to a charitable cause.

Guy Opperman: Recipients of Winter Fuel Payments are free to use them in the way they choose, including donating them to a charity of their choice. There is evidence that some people choose to do this already. Currently the Department cannot estimate the potential cost of this specific proposal, but is always open to suggestions from the chair of the WPSC. Digital reform of the Winter Fuel Payment Service is underway and will mean that from 2020/21 the Department could consider using newer technologies that may offer more flexibility over making improvements to the letters. As with the development of all digital services, user research will be an important factor in improving the letters to ensure they meet everyone’s needs, and in particular that the needs of vulnerable people are carefully considered.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will publish the recent advice given by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer on the definition of a terminal illness for the purpose of claiming benefits; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The previous Deputy Chief Medical Officer carried out an informal meeting with a selection of specialist clinicians to discuss their views on the current Special Rules for Terminal Illness process. Being an informal meeting no formal report was produced.

Universal Credit

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants have had money deducted as a result of (a) council tax arrears, (b) rent arrears and (c) historical tax credit debt.

Alok Sharma: The latest available data is for eligible claims to Universal Credit Full Service that were eligible for payment in February 2019. Of these claims: - 2% (34,000 claims) had a deduction for council tax arrears- 6% (83,000 claims) had a deduction for rent arrears- 17% (255,000 claims) had a deduction for tax credit overpayments Notes: Figures include only those claims with a non-zero deduction for each deduction type.Rent arrears deductions are defined as arrears of rent and/or service charges relating to a rented property.Figures for tax credit overpayments include both fraud and normal overpayments.Figures rounded to nearest 1,000.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much Government funding has been allocated to (a) Citizens Advice Bureau and (b) other organisations to support universal credit and other benefit claimants in Scotland.

Alok Sharma: As of May 2019, the Department has funded Citizens Advice Scotland with £2,343,378 to provide the Help to Claim service for Universal Credit claimants in Scotland. DWP staff also have discretion to signpost benefit claimants to local support services where appropriate.

Carer's Allowance: Newport East

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the Newport East constituency have been required to repay Carer’s Allowance as a result of an overpayment in the last 12 months; and how many of those overpayments were as a result of fraudulent claims.

Justin Tomlinson: The specific breakdown you have requested is not available. This is because the Department has no business need for a breakdown of this type and therefore our systems do not have this functionality. The Department is working hard to prevent overpayments from occurring in the first place as they reduce available public funds and can put additional pressure on claimants who are already financially constrained. To that end, we have introduced the Verify Earnings and Pensions system which provides us with up to date earnings information and allows claims to be updated far more quickly. The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers, who provide invaluable support for relatives, partners, friends and neighbours who are ill, frail or disabled.

Housing Benefit: Domestic Abuse

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 252018 on Housing Benefit: Domestic Abuse, if she will make it her policy to collect data on the proportion of discretionary housing payment funding that is allocated to claimants affected by domestic abuse in each local authority area.

Will Quince: Individual-level benefit records available for analysis do not include information on claimants affected by domestic violence due to data sensitivity. Separately, the Department asks Local authorities to supply details of their use of Discretionary Housing Payments on a voluntary basis. This does not include the specific circumstances of the claimant (including whether they have been subject to domestic abuse). and there are no plans to ask for any additional information.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what response her Department makes when notified by a local authority of an error in a resident’s universal credit calculation.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisations her Department defines as partners in the delivery of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: We work with a wide range of stakeholders, many of whom we collaborate with directly and consider partners. The next phase of delivering Universal Credit (UC) involves moving legacy benefit claimants to Universal Credit. The Department plans to pilot this approach, to test our processes carefully to ensure that claimants on all legacy benefits with a range of characteristics can be successfully moved onto Universal Credit. The Department is working with a wide and diverse range of stakeholders to design the process and we are currently developing the detailed planning on how we will start the pilot process, including which groups or individuals we will begin to move to Universal Credit. From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is be available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to local authorities to help (a) identify and (b) remedy errors in universal credit calculations.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Overpayments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the overpayment of universal credit.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the extent of the overpayment of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The design of UC is expected to reduce considerably the losses that are currently incurred in DWP-administered benefits and in Tax Credits (TC) by around £1bn annually in steady state, meaning that overall levels of fraud and error across welfare (DWP benefits & TC) should fall. The Department has a clear strategic approach to tackling fraud, error and debt, based on a clear understanding of where loss is incurred. This is informed by our own internal data and by the estimated levels of overpayments, published annually. The most recent edition (published 9 May 2019) can be accessed via the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2018-to-2019-estimates

Local Housing Allowance: Greater London

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2019 to Question 243314 on Local Housing Allowance: Greater London, what the 960 Local Housing Allowance rates are ranked according to the share of the market they afford, starting with the most divergent.

Will Quince: The information requested will be placed in the House of Commons Library. This data formed the basis of the Targeted Affordability Funding allocation for 19/20.

Independent Case Examiner: Staff

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much additional funding was made available to the Independent Case Examiner in 2018-19 to recruit 13 extra staff.

Will Quince: During 2018/19 the Independent Case Examiner’s Office received additional funding amounting to £474,582 which included the salary costs associated with increasing its headcount by thirteen.

Independent Case Examiner

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the budget for the Independent Case Examiner has been in each year since 2011-12; and how many members of staff have been employed by that body in each of those years.

Will Quince: The information requested is only available for each full year since 2015/16. The table below provides details of the budget and agreed staffing numbers for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office, for each year since 2015-16. Year (April to March)BudgetAgreed staffing number (full time equivalent)2015/16£2,563,70274.22016/17£2,733,11474.652017/18£2,534,00575.652018/19£3,008,58788.65

Independent Case Examiner: Complaints

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken to reach a determination on a complaint escalated to the Independent Case Examiner was in 2018-19.

Will Quince: When the Independent Case Examiner’s Office accept a complaint for investigation, attempts will initially be made to agree a solution between the complainant and the relevant business area, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). Cases are dealt with by dedicated teams and are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The table below provides information on the average time taken to reach a determination on a complaint escalated to the Independent Case Examiner during the 2018/19 reporting year: In those cases that were resolved7 weeks - from the point the complaint was accepted for investigationIn those cases that were investigated21 weeks - from the point the case was allocated to an investigation case managerEnd to end average clearance time for all cases65 weeks - from the point at which the complaint was accepted for examination (this includes the time complaints wait to be brought into investigation)

Independent Case Examiner: Complaints

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints that were rejected by the independent Case Examiner were referred to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Will Quince: Members of Parliament may refer complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman at any time they choose, regardless of whether they have been rejected or considered by the Independent Case Examiner. Decisions on whether to accept a complaint for investigation rests with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Office and we do not hold information about the number of complaints referred to them.

Universal Credit

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what changes have been made to the burden of proof required to prove eligibility for welfare support for (a) EU nationals and (b) non-EU nationals following the introduction of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Immigrants

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of non-UK nationals who have been denied universal credit due to their immigration status and (b) average time taken to verify the immigration status of claimants.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of mandatory reconsiderations which have taken longer than 30 days.

Justin Tomlinson: To provide information on Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) clearance times longer than 30 days across all DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost. There is, however, some available information on the average waiting time for MRs of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) work capability assessments. This is published and can be found in table 16 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-march-2019 Furthermore, it is planned that MR clearance times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will, for the first time, be included in the PIP Official Statistics publication. This publication will be available from 11th June 2019. It should also be noted that the Department’s decision makers are, in relation to PIP, now proactively engaging with claimants at the MR stage to ensure that they have all material evidence before they make their decision. Early indications are that this is helping decision makers.

Unemployment: Great Grimsby

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the  trends in the level of unemployment in Great Grimsby constituency.

Alok Sharma: The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in Great Grimsby has fallen by 45% in the last six years and stands at 3,406 as at February 2019. Across the local authority of North East Lincolnshire, and the unemployment rate for North East Lincolnshire has fallen from 11.5% in 2010 to 6.4% in 2018. The rate of unemployment across the UK is at its lowest since 1974.

Unemployment: Great Grimsby

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of unemployment in Great Grimsby constituency.

Alok Sharma: Since 2010, the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Labour Force Survey data shows that the level and rate of unemployment has fallen in every region and country of the UK. This Government is committed to providing targeted support for people so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. Jobcentre Plus is geared-up to offer advice to those claiming welfare benefits. Through Jobcentre Plus, individuals can get advice on finding a job; help with retraining or skills advice, CV and job applications; and access to thousands of new vacancies we record every day. They can also access a range of tailored opportunities to improve their likelihood of entering or re-entering the labour market, including demand-led training for higher skilled jobs in specific sectors.

Universal Credit: Great Grimsby

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of universal credit in assisting claimants into sustainable employment in Great Grimsby constituency.

Alok Sharma: The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey shows that 9 months into a Universal Credit claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, as opposed to only 23% at the start of their claim. People on Universal Credit spend around 50% more time looking for a job than they did under JSA and 86% of people on Universal Credit were actively looking to increase their hours, compared to just 38% of people on JSA. This is because they can take on more hours without losing their benefit. We cannot break this information down to constituency level.

Universal Credit: North East Lincolnshire

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that claimants of universal credit in North East Lincolnshire remain in sustainable employment when they find work.

Alok Sharma: The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey, published in June 2018, shows that 9 months into a Universal Credit claim, 40% of claimants are working for an employer in a paid role, as opposed to only 23% at the start of their claim. Universal Credit provides more help with childcare costs, a dedicated Work Coach and scraps the 16-hour ‘cliff edge’, removing barriers to work and progressing in work. The support provided by Work Coaches need not stop when the claimant finds a job, unlike the legacy benefit system. Claimants can access support from a Work Coach to help them progress their earnings and to ensure they remain in sustainable employment.In her speech on 9 May 2019, the Secretary of State announced work which will develop support for Jobcentre Plus staff to enable them to have conversations with employers about the range of things that employers can consider to support employees to progress.

Poverty: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimates he has made the number of children in absolute child poverty in each year since 2005.

Will Quince: Estimates of the number of children living in low income are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. The latest publication is available here. Estimates of the number of children in absolute low income households before housing costs in each year since 2005 are available below: YearNumber of children living in absolute low income households before housing costs2004/053.0m2005/063.1m2006/073.0m2007/082.9m2008/092.8m2009/102.5m2010/112.3m2011/122.6m2012/132.5m2013/142.4m2014/152.3m2015/162.3m2016/172.2m2017/182.5m

Novartis: North East Lincolnshire

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people affected by the potential closure of the Novartis plant in North East Lincolnshire.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Credit Unions: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she next plans to visit Northern Ireland to discuss ways in which Credit Unions can expand their services.

Guy Opperman: In July 2018, as Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion I individually and collectively met with a number of Credit Unions in Northern Ireland as part of a roundtable event for key stakeholders and practitioners in this field. I look forward to returning to visit Northern Ireland soon.

Social Security Benefits

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the average real terms losses of families affected by the four year freeze to social security payments in the total period of the operation of that freeze.

Will Quince: An estimate of the notional loss to household income as a result of the benefit freeze can be found at: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf.

Universal Credit

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants who have been awarded the limited work capacity (LWC) element in addition to their basic element have waited (a) one month, (b) two months and (c) three months or more before the extra LWC was awarded for each year for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not held by the Department. The financial element of the limited capability for work award was removed in April 2017. Those who are found to have limited capability for work following a work capability assessment will not receive any additional payment of Universal Credit. Universal Credit is more generous than the legacy system, with around one million disabled households gaining around £100 per month on average.

Social Security Benefits

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance whose claims were subject to a review by her Department's Quality Team are entitled to access the Quality Team's report of that review.

Justin Tomlinson: Based on our understanding of the question, we believe the ‘quality report’ refers to a report based on the overall quality of the Department’s Decision Making, not on the quality of assessment. Internally within DWP there is no Quality Assessment Report.

Social Security Benefits: Females

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken on the potential effect of changes to the eligibility rules for (a) pension credit and (b) housing benefit on women in mixed-age couples.

Guy Opperman: Before the matter was debated in the passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 the government did the 2011 Universal Credit Equality Impact Assessment then there has been ongoing equality analysis of the mixed age couple change. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-equality-impact-assessment On 28 February 2019, the DWP published a research and analysis paper relating to mixed age couples estimated to be affected by the change in policy: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mixed-age-couples-benefit-impacts-of-ending-access-to-pension-credit-and-pension-age-housing-benefit It shows that the vast majority of mixed age couples comprised a male and female partner. There is no indication that the change will have a disproportionate impact on the basis of sex.

Universal Credit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has assessed the potential cost of providing transitional protection to mixed-age couples moving from pension credit and housing benefit to universal credit.

Guy Opperman: The mixed age couples change will not apply to couples already claiming Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners on 14 May for as long as they remain entitled to either benefit. DWP wrote earlier this year to those mixed age couples already receiving Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners to ensure they know about the change and how they could be affected if their circumstances change on or after 15 May. Couples who would be eligible for the pension age benefits under the current rules but have not claimed before 15 May will have up to 13 August to make a backdated claim to 14 May and we have encouraged them to do so.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May to Question 249845, what information her Department holds on the demographics of universal credit claimants who have been unable to repay their advance within 12 months.

Alok Sharma: The table below shows the volumes of customers who have had an advance of their Universal Credit award on the system for a year or more as of 13 May 2019, broken down by age, gender and region. All figures are rounded to the nearest 500. Prior to taking a new claim advance, the claimant agrees the number of monthly instalments in which they will repay it, up to a maximum of 12. For a number of reasons, their 12 monthly instalments may not necessarily run consecutively. Claimants do not incur a penalty if it takes them more than a calendar 12-month timescale to replay their advance. Age of ClaimantFemaleFemaleMaleMaleTotalEngland & WalesScotlandEngland & WalesScotlandUnder 202,0005002,0005005,00020-2935,0004,50053,0008,000100,50030-3924,0002,50043,5006,00076,00040-4915,5002,00024,0003,50045,00050-5912,0001,50016,0002,00031,50060+2,5005003,5005007,000Total90,50011,000142,00021,000264,500 Note:This data has been sourced from internal management information and has not been quality assured to the usual standards for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other similar data subsequently released by the Department.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 May 2019 to Question 249847, what information her Department holds on the proportion of universal credit claimants who have (a) requested a reduction in their deduction and (b) received a reduction in their deduction.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 May 2019 to Question 249847, what assessment of a universal credit claimant’s financial situation is made when calculating what percentage of their payment will be deducted in order to repay an advance.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of disabled households that will be in receipt of universal credit when it is fully rolled out.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of disabled households will have a (a) higher and (b) lower benefit income than under the previous benefit system after the roll-out of  universal credit.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what modelling her Department undertook on the financial effect on disabled households as a result of the full roll-out of universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department estimates around 2 million disabled households will be in receipt of Universal Credit, as shown in table 4.4, page 86 of the Office for Budget Responsibility, Welfare Trends Report, here: http://obr.uk/wtr/welfare-trends-report-january-2018/ For those on Universal Credit due to a change in circumstance, it is not possible to calculate gainers or losers. As there has been a change of circumstance, the previous entitlement is not relevant for such a calculation. In order to carry out such an assessment, one would need to calculate individual notional legacy entitlement in tax credits, housing benefit and legacy DWP benefits, and then compare it to the Universal Credit entitlement. There is not the capacity within HMRC, Local Authorities or legacy DWP to run such calculations. For those who have yet to move over to Universal Credit, the same principle applies. The circumstances that will lead to them moving over are not known, so it is not possible to calculate. Universal Credit is more generous than the legacy system, with around one million disabled households gaining around £100 per month on average.

Home Office

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration Status: EU Nationals, what role he plans for the EU Immigration Users’ Representative Group on deciding which statistics will be published.

Caroline Nokes: It is absolutely our intention to continue to engage regularly with our stakeholder user groups, including the EU Immigration Users’ Representative Group on matters of EU Settlement Scheme. These groups are vital to help us develop and implement a sound engagement activity that reaches out to all eligible EU citizens.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration Status: EU Nationals, whether the quarterly statistics published on the EU Settlement Scheme will include the number of applicants granted Pre-Settled Status in each category for approval of that status.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration Status: EU Nationals, whether the quarterly statistics published on the EU Settlement Scheme will include the number of applicants initially granted Pre-Settled Status that are converted to Settled Status.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration Status: EU Nationals, whether the quarterly statistics published on the EU Settlement Scheme will include data on the demographic characteristics of applicants.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration Status: EU Nationals, whether the quarterly statistics published on the EU Settlement Scheme will include data on the number of applications by (a) region and (b) nation of the UK.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246930 on Immigration: EU Nationals, whether the quarterly statistics published on the EU Settlement Scheme will include the number of applicants that are refused (a) Settled Status and (b) Pre-Settled Status by reason for that refusal.

Caroline Nokes: The specific data that will be included in the future reporting of the EU Settlement Scheme is still being considered and is yet to be finalised.I thank the Rt. Honourable Member for the points raised in his questions and will take them into consideration as part of that process.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date applicants will be able to convert from Pre-Settled Status to Settled Status using the (a) app and (b) website.

Caroline Nokes: We are currently working hard on a number of enhancements to the EU Settlement Scheme including the functionality to support individuals who currently hold pre-settled status to apply for settled status once they become eligible. The process we are developing will allow applicants to apply either through the app or the website. We are working on this as a matter of absolute priority and expect this feature to go live in the next six weeks once we have thoroughly tested the technical functionality.In the meantime, the rights and status of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK will remain the same until 30 June 2021, if the UK leaves the EU with a deal. Those who have been granted pre-settled status can continue to demonstrate their right to reside at any time. Status is linked to the passport or biometric residence card that was used to apply to the scheme and online status can be viewed using the online service at https://view-and-prove-your-rights.homeoffice.gov.uk

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to publish service standards for the applications for the EU Settlement Scheme comparable to those published for the (a) UK Visas & Immigration  and (b) Passport Office.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the processing time standards for applications for the EU Settlement Scheme that (a) are straightforward, (b) require additional information and (c) require the applicant to post passports to his Department.

Caroline Nokes: We have committed to publishing quarterly statistical reports on the EU Settlement Scheme as a whole, alongside our Immigration Statistics from August 2019. Home Office statisticians are currently considering the content and will be taking into account the views of statistics users.The Home Office publishes estimated processing times for EU Settlement Scheme applications at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-application-processing-times/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-current-expected-processing-times-for-applications, giving applicants a guide to the current level of service.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the process for requesting feedback from applicants includes asking whether applicants understand the difference between (a) Settled Status and (b) Pre-Settled Status.

Caroline Nokes: As part of our commitment to improving the application process for customers, feedback is sought via a voluntary online survey. We do not collect feedback specifically on applicants’ understanding of the difference between Settled Status and Pre-Settled Status. We do however provide guidance on the differences between the two statuses on GOV.UK.https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/what-settled-and-presettled-status-means.We have also made improvements to the application process to make it clear to applicants the scope for them to provide additional evidence of their eligibility for settled status before they accept a grant of pre-settled status.

Police: Pensions

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations he has received on survivors' pensions for widows and widowers of retired police officers.

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on survivors' pensions for widows and widowers of retired police officers.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Secretary has regular discussions with the Chancellor on a range of issues. The Home Office receives correspondence on many issues, including police survivors’ pensions.On 18 January 2016, the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers in England and Wales who have died on duty and who qualified for a survivor pension after 1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivors’ benefits for life.

Antisemitism: Arrests

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of arrests for antisemitic hate crimes in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of arrests for violent antisemitic hate crimes in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of arrests, conducted by each police force in England and Wales, on an annual basis.Data are held at the offence group level only (for example ‘Violence against the person’ and ‘Public order’ offences). Information on the number of arrests for hate crimes – and further details of the nature of an offence – are not held centrally.Data are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2018

British Nationality: Republic of Ireland

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the right to apply for UK citizenship without a fee to people born in the Republic of Ireland and who have lived in the UK for most of their life.

Caroline Nokes: Under Common Travel Area arrangements Irish citizens have the right to enter and live in the UK without requiring permission. The same right is enjoyed by British citizens in Ireland.Those who were born in the Republic of Ireland before 1949 are able to opt for British subject status, which then enables them to register as a British citizen if they wish to do so, based on a period of residence in the United Kingdom. If a person wishes to become a British citizen rather than a British subject, they must make such an application and pay the required fee.Irish nationals born after 1949 can become British citizens by naturalisation. Irish nationals are regarded as settled in the UK and so are able to apply for citizenship after 5 years residence in the UK (3 years if the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen). This is a quicker route to citizenship than for other nationals. There are currently no plans to make an assessment of applications for citizenship without a fee.

NHS: Recruitment

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the NHS is able to (a) recruit and (b) retain the workforce required in South London after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: We have been clear that we want all EU nationals, including those working in the NHS and the care sector, to stay in the UK after we leave the EU.In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “The UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK and we intend to abolish the existing Resident Labour Market Test for highly skilled roles.The White Paper also includes, as a transitional measure, a temporary workers route which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill positions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.The Government is undertaking an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, over the course of this year, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking final policy decisions on the future system.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will manually check for a system error where an application to the EU Settlement Scheme receives a wholly or partially unsuccessful result from the automated residency check.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 21 of the Memorandum of Understanding between HMRC and the his Department on the EU Settlement Scheme, for what reason the exchange of data between HMRC and his Department will continue until April 2026.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the algorithm applied by his Department during automated residency checks.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the automated residency check for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme will check applicants' records on (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in the MoUs with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), if the automated check is unsuccessful or the person cannot be found during the initial check made during the online application, a Home Office caseworker may instigate the check again following the submission of the application if there is reason to believe a successful match is possible and it will benefit the applicant.Information on how the automated checks calculate periods of UK residence as well as the tax and benefit records that are included in the automated checks has been published on gov.uk and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.Page 27 of the published MoU with HMRC indicates this agreement will be in place until April 2026. The date of April 2026 was considered appropriate to account for all applications to be received under the scheme – including those granted pre-settled status at first application with limited UK residence and would therefore need several years more time in the UK before qualifying for settled status. The exchange of data will only occur when an application is received under the scheme. The MoU is also subject to biennial review to ensure it remains accurate and fit for purpose.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration will have a remit to inspect (a) HMRC and (b) the Department for Work and Pensions in respect of the processing of the data of applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The UK Borders Act 2007 (section 48) already allows the Independent Chief Inspector to inspect the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided by any person acting in relation to the discharge of immigration, nationality, asylum and customs functions.The EU Settlement Scheme is primarily an immigration regime. The Independent Chief Inspector, therefore, already has the necessary powers to inspect activities undertaken by the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, in support of the EU Settlement Scheme application process.

Visas: Arts

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which EU countries he has (a) started and (b) completed negotiations on reciprocal mobility agreements for workers in the creative industries who require short-term visas.

Caroline Nokes: The White Paper on the UK’s future relationship with the EU stated that we want to agree reciprocal mobility arrangements with the EU that support businesses to provide services and move their talented people and discuss how to facilitate the temporary mobility of self-employed professionals and employees providing services.Our proposals for future mobility arrangements with the EU are reflected in the Political Declaration on the future relationship, which sets out the that the Government wants to continue to enable cooperation in the cultural sector. The details for future mobility arrangements between the United Kingdom and the EU will be discussed in the next phase of negotiations. These negotiations will not commence until after the United Kingdom leaves the EU.

Aviation: EU Nationals

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) clear and (b) up to date information is provided to airlines operating in the UK on changes to visa requirements for EU citizens and their families visiting the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office works with carriers through the Carrier Liaison network, through regular stakeholder engagement groups, and through Airlines UK and the Board of Airline Representatives UK.We have regular communication with the International Air Transport Association to ensure their Timatic tool, used by airlines and travel agents to verify passenger travel document requirements, is clear and up-to-date with the UK’s visa requirements.We have also launched a passenger information campaign which includes an information toolkit for stakeholders including carriers. Information on visiting the UK after Brexit is also publicly available on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visiting-the-uk-after-brexitWe will continue to work with the carriers on introducing and communicating the requirements of the future system in advance of implementation.

Organised Crime

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle organised crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: Serious and organised crime affects more of us, more often, than any other national security threat, persistently eroding our economy and our communities. It costs the UK at least £37 billion every year. The newly updated Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published on 1st November 2018, sets out how the Government will mobilise the full force of the state and align the collective efforts of key partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors to tackle serious and organised crime together in one single approach.We also continue to invest in the right capabilities and tools for law enforcement, across Government and in partnership with the private sector to tackle SOC effectively.The cross-system approach is aligned to the four strategy objectives: o Relentless disruption and targeted action against the highest harm serious and organised criminals and networks affecting the UKo Building the highest levels of defence and resilience in vulnerable people, communities, businesses and systemso Stopping the problem at source, identifying and supporting those at risk of engaging in criminalityo Establishing a single, whole-system response, aligning the efforts of all those involved in responding to serious and organised crime as one, cohesive system.The Government has already made some early progress in implementing the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. For example, we have:• established and expanded the new community coordinator programme pilot areas in England and in Wales to promote community resilience and divert people away from serious and organised crime; • deployed a new cross-government overseas policy specialists network to complement existing international law enforcement operational work abroad;. • established a National UK Protected Persons Services in the National Crime Agency on 1st April 2019, through the transfer of England and Wales based Protected Person Units, to ensure the best protection possible is available to individuals while enhanc-ing judicial outcomes across the Criminal Justice Service.  The Government is determined to prevent serious and organised crime, defend against it, track down perpetrators and bring them to justice. We will allow no safe space – online or offline – for these people and their networks.

Borders: Organised Crime

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the corruption of public officials at the UK's borders by those involved in organised crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Government recognises the corrosive effects of corruption at the border in both the 2017-2022 Anti-Corruption Strategy and the 2018 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. As committed in the Anti-Corruption Strategy, the Home Office is leading on a comprehensive work programme to understand, manage and mitigate this vulnerability. Alongside Strategy implementation, law enforcement agencies continue to target the organised crime groups who use corruption, collusion and coercion to enable criminality at our airports and ports.Border Force itself is working to address the risk, including raising staff awareness of their vulnerability to attempts by Organised Crime Gangs to compromise their integrity. Measures are being put in place to encourage staff to declare such attempts or any potentially compromising developments in their personal lives, so they can be protected and mitigations put in place. Border Force is also improving intelligence and information sharing with other agencies, to ensure corruption risks are identified and that any insider threat is addressed at the earliest opportunity, working with the NCA to ensure an effective and robust response.

Knives: Crime

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many knife amnesty bins there were in the UK in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many knife amnesty days there have been in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Victoria Atkins: Information relating to knife amnesty bins and amnesty days is not collected centrally. The use of knife amnesties and bins are an operational decision for individual police forces.It is also open to police forces to deploy surrender bins at any time as well as during the coordinated weeks of national action that take place as part of Operation Sceptre. In the previous phase of the operation in September 2018, 8,781 knives were surrendered using amnesty bins or personally handed in at police stations.

Passports: Dual Nationality

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to ensure that dual nationals have to submit only UK documents when applying to renew their British passport.

Caroline Nokes: There are no plans to amend the policy to limit document requirements to UK documents only for dual nationals. HM Passport Office does seek to minimise documentary requirements for renewal applications but there are circumstances where additional information is needed which may include overseas documents or those relating to dual nationality.

Ministry of Defence: Fire and Rescue Services

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on awarding the Long Service and Good Conduct medal to firefighters working for the Ministry of Defence; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: Operational firefighters working for the Ministry of Defence are eligible for the Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct medal unless they have been awarded an Imperial Service medal, Civil Defence Long Service medal or Women’s Voluntary Service medal or clasp for any of the same qualifying period.

Immigrants: Health Services

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to fast-track refunds to people who have paid the new higher-rate Immigration Health Surcharge when their cases require them to pay only the lower pre-2019 rate.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office is promptly refunding excess immigration health surcharge payments where individuals have paid the incorrect amount as a consequence of their application being in train when the surcharge was increased on 8 January this year.An operational process was established to identify customers who paid the higher rate so that adjustments and refunds can be made. Any customer who self identifies as not having received a refund for this reason will be prioritised.

Nigeria: Extradition

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from the UK to Nigeria in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: Since the beginning of 2014, no one has been extradited to Nigeria from England, Wales or Northern Ireland.The Home Office does not hold statistics relating to extraditions from Scotland. Any extradition request to Scotland would be sent direct to the Crown Office.

Immigrants: Detainees

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information contained in medical records from an individual in immigration detention can be shared with National Referral Mechanism Competent Authorities for purposes other than law enforcement.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data collected by Immigration Removal Centre staff on an individual in immigration detention can be shared with National Referral Mechanism Competent Authorities for purposes other than law enforcement.

Caroline Nokes: Home Office Immigration Removal Centre staff have a duty to refer potential victims of modern slavery into the National Referral Mechanism.Only data that is required to enable the Single Competent Authority to make a reasonable grounds decision may be shared. All data, including that held within medical records, can only be shared with an individual’s consent.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is his Department’s policy not to release the location of the immigration removal centre where a person has been detained to the direct family of the detainee.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has no specific policy precluding the release of information relating to an individual’s location within the immigration detention estate. Data protection legislation however may prevent the release of such personal information should there be no legal basis to share it.

Biometrics: Edinburgh

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question 251272 on Biometrics: Edinburgh, if he will publish the market research undertaken by Sopra Steria Ltd to identify initial service locations for biometric enrolment facilities.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Sopra Steria Ltd did the analysis as part of their submission. I would refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to UIN 251272 on the 13th May 2019.

Civil Partnerships: Heterosexuality

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local coroners in England and Wales on taking bookings for opposite sex civil partnerships.

Caroline Nokes: The formation of civil partnerships in England and Wales falls to registration authorities rather than coroners. The Registrar General for England and Wales has issued guidance to registration authorities on taking bookings for the formation of civil partnerships for opposite sex couples in line with the implementation date in the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc) Act 2019.

Home Office: Fees and Charges

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department has received in fees for (a) indefinite leave to remain, (b) naturalisation and (c) status renewable applications in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not hold the information in the format requested. The Home Office accounting system aggregates income from different routes and does not enable us to provide this level of detail.

North Wales Police: Expenditure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much central Government funding for territorial police forces was allocated to North Wales Police (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of overall funding in each of the last four years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Police funding is increasing by over £1 billion in 2019/20, compared to 2018/19, including council tax, extra grant funding for pensions costs, and the serious violence fund. Total police funding is increasing by around £2 billion between 2015/16 and 2019/20.The North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) total funding is £155.8 million in 2019/20, an increase of £9.4 million compared to 2018/19. The North Wales PCC has set out plans to use this additional funding to recruit 34 extra officers and 6 more staff.Please see the table below for Government funding figures:Government grant Funding*2015/162016/172017/182018/192019/20 £m£m£m£m£mNorth Wales PCC73.272.771.771.774.8Total Engalnd and Wales7,822.57,783.67,684.67,685.47,988.8North Wales shares of Funding0.9%0.9%0.9%0.9%0.9%*Government grant funding consists of core grant funding, council tax grants, National and International City grants, and pensions grant. It does not include PFI or counter terrorism grant.

Northern Ireland Office

Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions Ministers have had with Invest Northern Ireland on maximising inward investment in the run up to the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2019.

Karen Bradley: Trade promotion is a devolved matter. The UK Government shares the ambitions of Invest NI and Tourism NI in promoting Northern Ireland as a place to invest, visit and do business. I welcome the ongoing work that is happening across a number of bodies in Northern Ireland to maximise the economic contribution of the 148th Open Championship. I know that there is a strong working relationship between Invest NI and the Department for International Trade, and that we are promoting the Open Championship at every opportunity.

Treasury

Treasury: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other Departments and (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU have since returned to his Department.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury does not hold information centrally on Loans/Secondments that have returned that have worked on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU. We estimate that to search and locate any information held would exceed the appropriate limit, therefore can only be answered at a disproportionate cost. EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. The Department for International trade works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade.  Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average annual savings to drivers as a result of fixing the level of fuel duty since 2010.

Robert Jenrick: Car drivers have saved an average of approximately £1000 since 2010, compared to pre-2010 escalator plans. The average annual saving has increased every year, and is about £175 for 2019/20.

Developing Countries: Debts

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a response to Early Day Motion 158 on Transparency of developing country debts.

John Glen: I thank the honourable member for Glasgow North for his question, and refer him to my answer of 14 November to PQ UIN 189731.

Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation

Judith Cummins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken by the Valuation Office Agency is to complete a business rateable value check.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many business rateable value checks made by the Valuation Office Agency have been outstanding for more than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the longest time taken by the Valuation Office Agency was to complete a business rateable value check in the last 12 months.

Mel Stride: Since the Check, Challenge, Appeal system was introduced, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has received 82,300 Checks, 87% of which have been resolved. The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 allow for up to 12 months to complete a Check unless an extension is agreed. If an extension is not agreed the customer has the right to progress to Challenge. Some cases are more complex than others and this can affect the time taken to resolve them. As at 31 March 2019, the average time taken by the VOA to complete a Check is 54 calendar days. Of the Checks outstanding;(a) 1,504 have been outstanding for more than three months;(b) 757 have been outstanding for more than six months; and(c) Fewer than five have been outstanding for over 12 months. Statistical disclosure guidelines mean the precise figure is too small to publish. Details of the longest time taken to complete a Check cannot be provided due to the possibility of breaching disclosure guidelines.

Cash Dispensing: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that remote rural areas have access to free to use cash machines.

John Glen: The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely monitoring developments in ATM provision. The PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network. LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1 kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM. LINK has also enhanced its Financial Inclusion Programme, increasing the funding available for free ATMs in the most remote rural and deprived areas of the UK.

Trade Barriers: China and USA

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) UK and (b) global economy of a US-China trade war.

John Glen: HM Government continuously monitors the global economy, and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) produces the Government’s official economic forecasts. The OBR’s most recent forecast was published in March 2019 and can be accessed at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2019/. The UK economy remains resilient, growing for the ninth consecutive year in 2018. The employment rate is currently at a record high, unemployment is currently at its lowest rate since 1974, and real wages are rising. In October 2018 the IMF estimated the impact of a trade tensions escalation. They estimated the impact would be global real GDP 0.2% lower in 2019 and 0.21% lower in the long term. The analysis also highlighted that the near term negative impact could be exacerbated by a decline in confidence and market reaction. The UK has consistently stressed the importance of de-escalating trade tensions, which are in no one’s interest.

Trade Barriers: China and USA

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has made to the (a) US Administration and (b) Government of China on the potential effect on the UK economy of a US-China trade war.

John Glen: The Chancellor engages regularly with international counterparts on issues relating to the global economy. The UK has consistently stressed the importance of de-escalating trade tensions, which are in no one’s interest. We have been clear in our opposition to escalating tariffs which could result in fundamental disruption to global trade flows. This would clearly have a negative effect on the global economy. We will continue to work with our partners to support the rules-based international trading system.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 247155 on Multinational Companies: Taxation; for what reason Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man were not included in the list of countries with a full tax treaty with the UK; and whether these jurisdictions will be covered by the offshore receipts in respect of intangible property rule.

Mel Stride: The scope of the legislation “Offshore Receipts in respect of Intangible Property” is limited to territories with which the UK does not have a full tax treaty. A “full treaty territory” is defined in the legislation as a treaty containing a non-discrimination provision. A non-discrimination provision is defined by reference to nationals of a state. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not “states”, they are territories for which the UK is responsible and so cannot meet that condition. It follows that the Crown Dependencies are within scope of the legislation. The government has committed to respecting its international obligations in respect of this measure. As such the provisions of the relevant treaties will apply to any arrangements involving the Crown Dependencies that are subject to the legislation, and the UK will provide for treaty relief where applicable.

Public Sector: Tax Avoidance

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which public sector organisations HMRC have identified as engaging in paying workers through disguised renumeration schemes.

Mel Stride: HMRC is unable to provide information on specific taxpayers due to its legal obligation to uphold taxpayer confidentiality. HMRC is committed to tackling tax avoidance at all levels across all organisations, including public bodies. It works closely with public bodies to support them with their tax affairs and ensure they pay the right amount. It is possible for individuals to use disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes without the participation or knowledge of the entity that engages them. Individuals, working for public bodies, identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as using a tax avoidance scheme would be investigated in the same way as any other scheme user.

Flexible Working: Mothers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to be flexible and accommodating to mothers of young children in their employment.

Elizabeth Truss: This Government has a strong record of supporting parents and has introduced a number of measures to support parents of young children in the workplace and to encourage employers to be flexible. Specific measures include; spending almost £6 billion on childcare support in 2019/20 – more than ever before, extending the right to request flexible working to all, introducing a system of shared parental leave and becoming one of the first countries in the world to introduce gender pay gap reporting. The female employment rate is at a joint record high of 71.8% and the gender pay gap is at a record low.

Health: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of introducing a budget that includes the well-being of UK citizens as a measure of success.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government currently makes use of a wide range of population health and wellbeing outcome metrics to measure the success of public spending programmes.

Parental Pay

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in employment claimed (a) statutory paternity pay and (b) statutory shared parental pay in each year since 2015.

Elizabeth Truss: The number of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) claimants in the last five years can be found in the table below: Tax YearNumber of SPP ClaimantsNumber of ShPP Claimants15/16215,1006,20016/17219,9008,60017/18212,7009,20018/19202,80010,700 Notes:Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in May 2019. RTI is subject to revision or updates.Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.In the 2015/16 tax year, those receiving Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) for children born before 6 April 2015 cannot be distinguished from those claiming ShPP within RTI data.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it remains his Department’s policy that the four year freeze on the uprating of social security payments will end in April 2020.

Elizabeth Truss: As the Chancellor has recently made clear, we have no intention of repeating the current freeze. From April next year, we expect to resume increasing frozen benefits in line with CPI.

Social Services: Children

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will prioritise local authority children’s services at the next spending review.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating additional resources to local authorities to provide high quality support for children and families through the forthcoming Spending Review.

Elizabeth Truss: Local authorities have access to over £200bn to deliver services, including children’s services, between 2015 and 2020. Local government Core Spending Power will increase in real terms next year.At Budget 2018 the Government announced an additional £410m in 2019-20 for adults and children’s social care, and £84m to support local authorities to expand programmes for children and families.Day-to-day departmental budgets for 2020-21 onwards have not yet been set. These are a matter for the Spending Review this year, where the Government will set out our priorities for public spending.

London Capital and Finance

Peter Kyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the terms of reference are for the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority into the failure of London Capital & Finance.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what level of (a) financial resources and (b) personnel has been allocated to the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority into the issues raised by the failure of London Capital & Finance.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timescale is for the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority into the failure of London Capital & Finance.

John Glen: Further details of this investigation will be published shortly.

Construction: Payment Methods

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of the cash-in-hand economy in the private domestic repair, maintenance and improvement sector in the construction industry.

Mel Stride: HMRC does not measure how much of the tax gap is specifically linked to cash. Cash plays a part in supporting the hidden economy and evasion. These behaviours consistently account for roughly 25% of the tax gap. If anyone is aware of instances of a business or employer using cash to evade tax they can report this to HMRC; online or by phone.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Special Olympics

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support the Special Olympics and (b) ensure that Special Olympics GB receives adequate funding over the next five years.

Mims Davies: Government recognises the importance of sport and physical activity for disabled people who take part at both the grassroots and the elite level, as set out in the government’s sport and physical activity strategy 'Sporting Future'. Special Olympics GB (SOGB) received a three year grant from Sport England, the government arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, totalling £204,363 for its core activities from October 2017 to September 2020. This grant is part of Sport England’s £1.6m grant funding to National Disability Sports Organisations. SOGB was also granted £43,344 of Commercial Consultancy Support (2018/19) by Sport England. Through this support they are working with Sport Collective, a sports rights and marketing agency, to identify their brand assets and value, identify and target potential partners and develop their sponsorship material. In addition, Sport England also gave SOGB a further £152,000 of Exchequer investment in December 2018/January 2019. This was to help SOGB engage more volunteers and sponsors, to increase the numbers in their volunteer recruitment programme, and to deliver partnership competitions. Sport England will be meeting SOGB and other National Disability Sport Organisations later this year to discuss the potential and process for further investment post-October 2020.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Former Ministers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Margot James: Any such payments are published in the department’s audited annual accounts, which can be found on gov.uk.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.

Margot James: No DCMS employees were transferred or seconded to work in other departments in preparation for the UK leaving the EU. Our employees also did not complete work for other Government departments from within DCMS.

European Parliament: Elections

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of disinformation in the media on the integrity of the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Margot James: We have seen no evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes, but we are not complacent. The Online Harms White Paper sets out our expectations for tech companies to take proportionate and proactive measures to minimise the spread of misleading and harmful disinformation. The Government is working closely with industry, civil society and international partners to do what is necessary to prevent the use of online disinformation to undermine our democratic values and processes. Ahead of the European Parliament elections DCMS has been working closely with analytical teams across government and beyond to monitor for any disinformation campaigns so that we can be ready to respond to them quickly and effectively.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Former Ministers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Andrew Stephenson: Payments made under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 for 2016-17 and 2017-18 are published in the Department’s annual report and accounts, see page 88: BEIS Annual Report and Accounts 2016 to 2017 GOV.UK and page 87: BEIS Annual Report and Accounts 2017 to 2018 GOV.UK. Figures for 2018-19 will be included in the 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts to be published later this year.

Whirlpool Corporation: Tumble Dryers

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what level of evidence on the safety of modified tumble dryers would be required to prompt a full recall of all modified machines.

Kelly Tolhurst: A recall notice under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 may be issued for a dangerous product where other action that the regulator may require, either of the producer or distributor, is not sufficient to prevent the risks to health and safety. Any enforcement action, including a recall notice should be proportionate to the seriousness of the risk.  The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is closely monitoring the response of Whirlpool and further steps will be taken if the response is not satisfactory. Consumer safety is a key priority and the Government will hold the company to account.

Solar Power

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department has monitored deployment of new solar installations on (a) domestic rooftops, (b) community energy schemes and (c) commercial and industrial rooftop schemes since the closure of the Feed-In Tariff scheme.

Chris Skidmore: Deployment of installations is monitored through the MCS installation database (MID) and the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD). Community Energy England also published a State of the Sector Report on 23rd June 2018.

Climate Change

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: Leaving the European Union will not affect our ambitious domestic emissions reduction commitments, as they are enshrined in UK law in the Climate Change Act (2008). The UK is a global leader in this area; between 1990 and 2017, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40% while growing the economy by more than two thirds, and we remain committed to delivering the outcomes of the Paris Agreement.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the names are of each Local Enterprise Partnership; and which partnerships have appointed a board member with responsibility for rural issues.

Kelly Tolhurst: The 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs) areas are Black Country; Buckinghamshire Thames Valley; Cambridge and Peterborough; Cheshire & Warrington; Coast to Capital LEP; Cornwall & Isles of Scilly; Coventry and Warwickshire; Cumbria; Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2); Dorset LEP; Enterprise M3; Gloucestershire (GFirst) LEP; Greater Birmingham and Solihull; Greater Lincolnshire; Greater Manchester; Heart of the South West; Hertfordshire; Humber LEP; Lancashire LEP; Leeds City Region; Leicester & Leicestershire; Liverpool City Region LEP; London; New Anglia LEP; North East LEP; Oxfordshire LEP; Sheffield City Region LEP; Solent LEP; South East LEP; South East Midlands LEP; Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP; Swindon and Wiltshire LEP; Tees Valley LEP; Thames Valley Berkshire; The Marches; West of England LEP; Worcestershire LEP and York and North Yorkshire LEP. The following 12 LEPs have appointed a board member with an explicit responsibility for rural issues: Cheshire & Warrington; Cornwall & Isles of Scilly; Dorset LEP; Enterprise M3; Heart of the South West; New Anglia LEP; North East LEP; South East LEP; South East Midlands LEP; Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP; Swindon and Wiltshire LEP; and York and North Yorkshire LEP. Other Local Enterprise Partnerships manage rural issues in a variety of ways, for example in Gloucestershire (GFirst) there is a member of the LEP agri-food & rural business sector group on the board, by the appointment of an agri-food champion (The Marches), through engagement at SME boards (Coventry and Warwickshire) and by drawing on the expertise of rural organisations (Worcestershire).

Electricity Generation

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria is used by National Grid ESO to determine acceptable levels of regional electricity system restoration capability.

Chris Skidmore: The Electricity System Operator (NGESO), has a legal obligation to have a capability to restore the electricity system in the event of a total or partial failure. In line with historic expectations, NGESO has sourced and procured capability to achieve the restoration of 60% of national demand within 24 hours. This level of demand equates to the level required to run a stable, interconnected Electricity Transmission System, from which remaining demand can be restored. This approach requires a certain number of self-starting generators to be available in each region and prioritises the restoration of supplies to other generators to maintain a broadly consistent rate of restoration across all GB regions. The restoration approach is reviewed at least once every two years, to ensure that GB’s restoration capability keeps pace with all relevant technologies and the changes to the electricity system.

Electricity Generation: Carbon Emissions

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how essential electricity system restoration capability will be provided in a zero-carbon electricity system.

Chris Skidmore: The electricity System Operator (National Grid ESO) has a legal license obligation to ensure that it has a restoration capability. In order to ensure that this capability evolves to provide a safe and effective restoration as the electricity system continues to decarbonise and decentralise, NGESO is undertaking a project to develop and demonstrate new approaches to restore the electricity system from Distributed Energy Resources to increase competition in the market and deliver cost and carbon emission reductions. BEIS will continue to monitor GB’s changing restoration capability alongside National Grid and Ofgem to ensure it remains robust and effective.

Electricity Generation

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the financial sustainability of retaining synchronous synchronous generation capability to provide restoration capability to the National Grid.

Chris Skidmore: The Electricity System Operator, (NGESO) has a legal obligation to provide a capability to restore the electricity system in the event of its total or partial failure. Under a new regulatory framework introduced in 2017, NGESO is required to submit on an annual basis, a Restoration Strategy, which outlines how restoration will be achieved in the short, medium (one to three-year time horizon) and long-term (beyond three years), as well as a Procurement Methodology, which outlines how this approach will be delivered. The Government regulator for gas and electricity markets, Ofgem, is responsible for considering these methodologies and determining whether these are sufficient, efficient and cost-effective. In order to ensure that GB’s restoration capability evolves in line with the decarbonisation and decentralisation of the electricity system, NGESO is undertaking a project to develop and demonstrate new approaches to restore the electricity system from Distributed Energy Resources. This will reduce the reliance on large, thermal, synchronous generation for restoration services and increase competition in the market to deliver cost and carbon emissions reductions.

Energy: Scotland

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) plans and (b) timetable he has to review the (i) Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and (i) Common Tariff Obligation.

Chris Skidmore: There is a statutory requirement to review the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme every three years. As part of the latest review, the Government will be shortly publishing a consultation document on the retention of both the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and the Common Tariff Obligation, reflecting their importance in helping to protect consumers in the North of Scotland from the high costs of electricity distribution there. The consultation will also set out detailed proposals for spreading the costs of a cross-subsidy for Shetland across Great Britain. This would have the effect of reducing electricity costs for all consumers across the North of Scotland from 2020 onwards.

Industry: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans to include a heightened role for rural areas in the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

Andrew Stephenson: The Industrial Strategy is the Government’s long term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high quality, well paid jobs for all throughout the United Kingdom. Industrial Strategy policies recognise that different areas require flexibility to respond to local needs and to build on local strengths, this includes people living and working in rural areas, which is why the Industrial Strategy is investing in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Strategy’s Foundations consider rural needs, and will continue to do. For example: The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund enables investment in agritechApprenticeships are becoming a strong rural training routeWe are investing in digital connectivity including 5G Rural First, and 5G Rural Integrated testbed pilotsBusiness productivity in SMEs are being tackled through Local Enterprise Partnerships and support from the British Business Bank Furthermore, we have committed to developing Local Industrial Strategies with every Local Enterprise Partnership and Mayoral Combined Authority. Local Industrial Strategies provide an important opportunity for all rural areas to grow their economy by creating a bespoke approach to supporting the local economy and driving productivity. The government is committed to Local Industrial Strategies so that: All places are able to increase productivity and realise their potentialWe can set out the spatial impacts of national and local policy across our cities, towns and rural areas. Building on local evidence, Local Industrial Strategies will therefore look to address challenges and opportunities across the foundations of productivity so that all rural communities can contribute to and benefit from economic prosperity.

Caravan Sites

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question, 251894 on Caravan Sites, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit owners of caravan holiday home parks from being able to make assessments of potential purchasers of caravans before granting authority for that sale; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit owners of caravan holiday home parks to be able to make assessments of potential purchasers of caravans. However, we are engaging with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government about a range of issues relating to caravan parks and consumers.

Parental Leave

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the review of shared parental leave is planned for completion; and at what stage of that review stakeholders will be called to give evidence.

Kelly Tolhurst: We expect to complete the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme later this year. To date we have prioritised collecting empirical data from a variety of sources, including a large-scale survey of nearly 4,500 parents. We plan to hold meetings with interested parties during the later stages of the evaluation.

Trading Standards: Unfair Practices

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what sanctions Trading Standards is able to apply to companies which are found to be operating in unacceptable ways; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: Given the wide variety of legislation which Trading Standards can enforce, I am limiting my answer to consumer law. Where a company has committed a criminal breach of consumer law under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008), Trading Standards can prosecute in the criminal court and the court can impose a fine or imprisonment for a serious offence. However, there are no equivalent sanctions available to Trading Standards in the civil courts and the Government has therefore committed to introducing court based civil sanctions for breaches of civil law. We are also considering further options to ensure that our system of consumer protection provides a robust response to both local and national threats following the Modernising Consumer Markets Green Paper in 2018.

Parental Leave: Childbirth

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government will publish its internal review of the rules on paid leave for parents of premature babies and sick babies and those that experience multiple births.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently conducted a short, focussed internal review for the purpose of providing advice to Ministers. There are no plans to publish the advice that makes up this review.

Horizon Nuclear Power

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) the Government of Japan and (c) representatives of Hitachi on that company's policy on the development of nuclear power stations in the UK through Horizon Nuclear Power; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stephenson: This Government continues to believe that nuclear energy has an important role to play in the UK’s future energy mix, but it must provide value for money for taxpayers and consumers. Talks with Hitachi and the Government of Japan in relation to the Wylfa Newydd project are continuing at an official level. As my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has stated to Parliament, we intend to publish an Energy White Paper in due course which will include an update on our approach to financing new nuclear.

Construction: Trading Standards

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Trading Standards in protecting consumers from rogue and incompetent builders in the construction industry.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Construction: Trading Standards

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) rogue and (b) incompetent builders in the construction industry; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce that number.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Construction: Trading Standards

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has issued to the public on identifying competent builders.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Consumers

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to publish the White Paper on  modernising consumer markets.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the he National Audit's Office press release of 2 May 2019, Investigation into the government’s land disposal strategy and programmes, and its assertion that the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government expects departments to have released enough land for around 65,000 homes by 2020, against a target of at least 160,000, what the evidential basis is for his Department's estimated performance against that target.

James Brokenshire: The estimate is based on department’s risk based assessment of their disposal opportunities in the Public Land for Housing programme. The Public Land for Housing programme (2015-20) Programme Handbook for Departments and Arm’s Length Bodies August 2018 sets out how risk ratings are defined, and provides guidance on monitoring, reporting and evidence keeping for the programme. All departments actively manage their pipeline of sites for disposal and apply appropriate risk ratings and mitigation strategies. The Programme Handbook is available via the gov.uk webpages.

Property: Ownership

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory time limit for property management companies to issue a certificate of ownership to a new owner after selling a property.

Kit Malthouse: The Government expects certificates of compliance to be issued within a reasonable period of time. Legislation is already in place specifying the governance of ownership certificates and their use in support of planning applications. Applicants are legally required to notify the owners of a site when they submit their planning application, so that they have the opportunity to comment. An ownership certificate confirming that other owners have been appropriately notified must be signed when submitting a planning application. It is an offence to issue a false ownership certificate knowingly or recklessly under section 65(6) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Green Belt

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what analysis his Department has undertaken to identify green belt land close to train stations.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what analysis his Department has undertaken to identify green belt land close to train stations and within an hour's travel time of London.

Kit Malthouse: Analysis of green belt land within half a mile of train stations, not including national parks, Areas Of Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, was produced using publicly available datasets; it showed that there were just over 57,100 hectares of such land in England. However, the analysis does not indicate how much of this land is suitable for housing developments, or how much of that land is currently in use.

Empty Property: Urban Areas

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of vacancy rates in  town centre business properties.

Jake Berry: Town centres and high streets are a crucial part of our communities and the Government is determined to see these areas thriving, both now and in the future.The Department receives vacancy rate data on retail units from the Local Data Company which has enabled the Department to monitor the change in these vacancy rates over time at a national level. The data demonstrates that retail vacancy rates peaked at 14.6 per cent in August 2012. Although there have been fluctuations in the rate, it has not reached this high point since and current figures show this rate is at 12.9 per cent in May 2019.At Autumn budget we set out ‘Our Plan for the High Street’ to support the sustainable transformation of high streets, including a £675 million Future High Streets Fund, a High Streets Task Force and measures on business rates and planning. We also launched a pilot of our Open Doors project in November 2018, which brings empty properties back into use by linking landlords of vacant units with community groups looking for space.

Business Premises: Change of Use

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has estimated the (a) number and (b) proportion of homes created under permitted development rights enabling change of use from offices to housing which do not meet national standards on floor space; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: New homes in England, whether granted permission on an application or through a permitted development right, are required to meet Building Regulations.We announced in Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1408 on 13 March 2019, our intention to review permitted development rights for conversion of buildings to residential use in respect of the quality standard of homes delivered.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will put in place a deadline by which ACM cladding will have been removed from (a) private and (b) social housing blocks.

Kit Malthouse: On 9 May, Government announced its commitment to fully fund the remediation of private sector high-rise residential blocks (above 18 metres) with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding, except where a warranty claim has been accepted. This will allow remediation to happen quickly. We continue to put pressure on building owners and developers to make their buildings permanently safe as swiftly as possible.We are not expecting any further applications from social sector building owners but we will still accept applications from any building owners who require funding.

Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to undertake a public consultation on a Code of Practice under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Rishi Sunak: The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 will get the fairest deal for motorists, landowners and parking operators. The Act requires that the Code of Practice be developed in consultation with stakeholders, and we are also committed to carrying out a public consultation on the draft Code of Practice in due course.

Community Land Trusts: Rural Areas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has plans to extend the role of Community Land Trusts in rural areas.

Kit Malthouse: The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector – of which Community Land Trusts are an important part – offers significant potential for helping to meet housing need across England, especially in rural areas. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, the sector will help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and sustaining local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through speculative development.The principal means by which my Department supports Community Land Trusts is through the annual £60 million Community Housing Fund. This fund makes revenue and capital grant available to support community-led housebuilding schemes, and supports a programme of training and development for organisations providing technical advice and guidance to community-led housebuilding groups. The Fund is currently scheduled to close in March 2020 and decisions on funding for 2020-21 onwards are a matter for the Spending Review, which will take place this year.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release of 9 May 2019, Government to fund and speed up vital cladding replacement, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many blocks with aluminium composite cladding will have their cladding remediation funded by that fund.

Kit Malthouse: On 9 May 2019, Government announced its commitment to fully fund the remediation of private sector high-rise residential blocks with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, except where a warranty claim has been accepted. As of the end of April 2019, there are 175 high-rise private sector residential buildings identified with ACM. Several developers who had committed to fund remediation have agreed to maintain this commitment, and not draw on the fund. This includes Taylor Wimpey, Legal & General, Mace Group, Lendlease, Barratt Developments and Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has calculated the average cost per dwelling of remediating aluminium composite cladding.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has calculated the average cost per block of remediating aluminium composite cladding.

Kit Malthouse: On 9 May, The Government announced its commitment to fully fund the remediation of private sector high-rise residential blocks with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding. £200 million has been set aside for this. We will publish the full fund application guidance including eligibility and evidence criteria by mid-July and we expect that the formal application process will begin in the Summer.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have taken enforcement action where owners of private sector high-rise residential buildings with unsafe aluminium composite material have refused to remediate those buildings.

Kit Malthouse: The private sector remediation fund, announced on 9 May, will cover remediation costs of all private sector high-rise (over 18 metres) residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, except where a warranty claim has been accepted. To support the fund, local authorities have a range of enforcement powers, including serving improvement notices or undertaking emergency remedial work themselves. We are backing local authorities taking enforcement action where building owners are refusing to remediate high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding.    We are engaging with local authorities who are taking, or are considering taking, enforcement action for buildings with unsafe ACM. It is for each local authority to decide if enforcement action is appropriate on their buildings.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to make an estimate of the number of high-rise buildings with different forms of non-aluminium composite material cladding.

Kit Malthouse: Government continues to work with stakeholders to gain a fuller understanding of the makeup and safety of high rise residential buildings and publishes monthly data. We will be consulting soon on proposed reforms to the building safety regime for high rise residential buildings. This will set out how we propose to take forward the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review, which included recommendations on the future collection and availability of building safety information.

Owner Occupation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question 251918, what assessment he has made of the decline in home ownership rates among NS-SEC classification routine occupations.

Kit Malthouse: The annual English Housing Survey collects home ownership data (including, since 2015-16, NS-SEC data) and the most recent report showed that the rate of home ownership for 35-44 years olds has increased for the first time in over a decade. The changes in home ownership rate between 2015-16 and 2016-17 for each NS-SEC classification, including the decline for routine occupations, is not statistically significant. We will continue to monitor this closely as further data is collected.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2019 to Question 244107 on Buildings: Insulation, whether the guidance in paragraph 12.7 (now paragraph 12.6) of Volume 2 of Approved Document B read in the context of paragraph 12.5 of the Approved Document and the overall requirement for external walls to adequately resist the spread of fire means that the whole external wall system is required to be of limited combustibility.

Kit Malthouse: The guidance in paragraph 12.6 (previously paragraph 12.7) of Volume 2 of Approved Document B states the following “In a building with a storey 18m or more in height (see Diagram C6) any insulation product, filler material (not including gaskets, sealants and similar) etc. used in the construction of an external wall should be of limited combustibility or better” . Those in control of building work need to give consideration to the choice of material used for any parts of an external wall or attachments to the wall which could impact on the risk of fire spread over the wall.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 249217 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, how many dwellings are contained in the 140 social sector buildings.

Kit Malthouse: The 140 social sector buildings that have been allocated funding contain approximately 10,300 dwellings.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's monthly Building Safety Programme data release, if he will publish the data in Table 3 (Appendix 2) by parliamentary constituency.

Kit Malthouse: The table below sets out parliamentary constituency areas with high-rise residential buildings and publicly-owned buildings that are yet to be remediated – these areas are grouped into bands. The bands used are; one to five buildings, six to ten buildings, 11 to 20 buildings, and more than 20 buildings. The buildings included all have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations and are either residential buildings over 18 metres tall or publicly-owned buildings.As of 30 April there are 102 parliamentary constituencies in England where such buildings were identified, of which 84 constituencies have at least one such building yet to be remediated within their boundaries.Constituencies with fewer than ten high-rise residential buildings (regardless of whether or not they have cladding) have been removed from the table below, as their inclusion could lead to the identification of one or more buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations in these areas – hence 70 constituencies are listed below.  Number of buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated, by parliamentary constituency  England, 30 April 2019 (a) Constituencies with 1 to 5 buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediatedBarkingEsher and WaltonNorwich SouthBedfordFeltham and HestonNottingham SouthBermondsey and Old SouthwarkFinchley and Golders GreenPlymouth, Sutton and DevonportBirmingham, LadywoodGatesheadPooleBlackley and BroughtonGillingham and RainhamPortsmouth NorthBootleHackney South and ShoreditchPortsmouth SouthBournemouth WestHammersmithPutneyBradford WestHarrow WestReading EastBrent CentralHayes and HarlingtonSheffield CentralBrent NorthHemel HempsteadShipleyBrentford and IsleworthHendonSloughBristol WestHolborn and St PancrasStockton NorthCamberwell and PeckhamHornsey and Wood GreenStreathamCambridgeHuddersfieldStretford and UrmstonChelsea and FulhamKensingtonSutton and CheamCroydon CentralLeicester SouthVauxhallCroydon NorthLewisham, DeptfordWimbledonEaling Central and ActonManchester, GortonWolverhampton North EastEaling, SouthallNewcastle upon Tyne Central  (b) Constituencies with 6 to 10 buildings  with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediatedBatterseaLeeds CentralTottenhamIslington South and FinsburyLiverpool, RiversideWestminster North (c) Constituencies with 11 to 20 buildings  with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediatedBethnal Green and BowHampstead and KilburnSalford and EcclesCities of London and WestminsterManchester CentralWest Ham (d) Constituencies with over 20 buildings  with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediatedGreenwich and WoolwichPoplar and Limehouse

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether private blocks with non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding that is found to be non-compliant with regulations will be eligible to apply for funding from the £200 million cladding replacement fund announced in May 2019.

Kit Malthouse: The fund will cover reasonable costs associated with the removal and replacement of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. Non-ACM cladding systems will not be part of the fund.

Social Rented Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether buildings in the social sector with a combination of high press laminate cladding and stonewool will be eligible for remediation funding in the event that that combination of materials fails the BS 8414 test being carried out by the Fire Protection Association on behalf of his Department.

Kit Malthouse: It is for building owners to ensure their buildings are safe. Should there be another material which poses a similar level of hazard to dangerous Aluminium Composite Material cladding and is an immediate public safety concern, the Government will consult the Independent Expert Advisory Panel urgently and consider appropriate action.

Social Rented Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to reimburse (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations who have taken steps to remove combustible non-aluminium composite material cladding from high-rise residential buildings.

Kit Malthouse: Building owners are responsible for the safety of their buildings. There are no such plans. Building owners should continue to follow the advice set out in Advice Note 14 which provides advice for building owners on external wall systems which do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has received confirmation from all the local authorities listed in Table 3 (Appendix 2) of his Department's monthly Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release that residents in all the buildings with aluminium composite material cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations in their local authority area have been made aware that their building contains such cladding.

Kit Malthouse: Building owners are responsible for ensuring residents are informed of fire safety issues in their buildings. We are engaging with building owners, managing agents, local authorities and others to ensure that remediation happens as quickly as possible, and that interim safety measures are in place in all buildings until the cladding is replaced.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2019 to Question 240560 on Buildings: Insulation, whether Building Control Technical Guidance Note 18 published in 2014 and revised in 2015 has the same legal status as Approved Document Part B Volume 2 2013 under Section 6 of the Building Act 1984.

Kit Malthouse: Building Control Technical Guidance Note 18, published in 2014 and revised in 2015, was produced by the Building Control Alliance (BCA). The BCA is not a body designated by the Secretary of State for the purposes of section 6 of the Building Act 1984 nor was the document approved by the him. BCA technical guidance notes are intended to provide information, promote good practice and encourage consistency of interpretation.

Local Government: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities on flying and promoting county flags on Historic County Flags Day on 23 July.

Jake Berry: I regularly have discussions with local authorities covering a wide range of issues which can include the celebration of historic counties. To help county council leaders develop local activities to celebrate their historic counties, I issued on 10 April guidance which included a section referring to the County Flags Day on 23 July and provided advice about the flying of Historic County Flags.

Community Development: Urban Areas

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the results of the first round of applications from the Open Doors pilot.

James Brokenshire: The Open Doors Pilot was announced in the 2018 Budget and seeks to demonstrate a new way to approach the challenge of vacant commercial properties on high streets by matching landlords of empty commercial properties across England with community groups looking for space.   We received 30 applications from landlords offering their properties for use by the deadline of 31 December 2018 and announced the five locations selected for the pilot in April 2019; these are in Slough, Kettering, Stoke-on-Trent, Bradford and Rochford.   Applications from community groups wishing to use the spaces are now being accepted on a rolling basis, and we expect to have the first groups in place later this Summer.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Former Ministers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much her Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Any such payments are published in the Department's audited annual accounts, which can be found on the gov.uk website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018

Veterans

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress her Department has made on the implementation of the veterans strategy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government already does a huge amount to support veterans, but for the first time we set out in this Strategy the long-term aims for veterans as a whole, to enable a consistent, coherent and reliable set of outcomes. Over 4,000 responses were received to the Strategy's UK Government Consultation from a range of individuals and organisations. We are currently conducting a thorough analysis of the responses which will inform the implementation plan for the Strategy.

Iran: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 251360 on Iran: International Military Services, for what reason she is not at liberty to disclose the date.

Stuart Andrew: The hearing has been listed by the Court on a private and confidential basis. The Ministry of Defence is not a party to these proceedings and there will be no public or third-party access to the hearing.

Ministry of Defence: Sick Leave

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department office took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in her Department; and what the cost was to her Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Civilian Sickness Absence data has been published on the GOV.UK website since January 2016 and the latest available edition can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-civilian-sickness-absence-financial-year-201718. Data relating to the 12 month period to 31 March 2019 is due to be published on 13 June 2019. The MOD takes the health and wellbeing of its personnel very seriously. The Department’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy for all MOD employees, military and civilian, is designed to provide guidance to the chain of command and civilian line managers on how to manage the health needs, both mental and physical, of their people. The aim is to maximise the number of people fit to work, managing people back to work after a period of sickness, so that they are fit and able to meet the requirements of Defence outputs, including operational effectiveness. In 2017, the Department also launched its Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2017–2022 with a four-step plan of implementation; promotion, prevention, detection and treatment. All civilian staff can access the Department’s Employee Wellbeing Service which offers emotional support and advice on life events as well as counselling services. In addition, the Speak Safe helpline provides a safe space to discuss issues relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination. The Department also has over 2,000 civilian and military Mental Health First Aiders, each of whom has completed a two-day course delivered in accordance with the requirements of Mental Health First Aid England (or equivalent). The MOD offers a range of flexibilities to enable a better work-life balance for civilian employees. The department recognises that by enabling employees to create a good work-life balance it benefits by attracting and retaining high calibre staff.

Armed Forces: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many 16 year olds signed up to the armed forces in each of the last three years.

Mark Lancaster: Information on the number of 16-year olds who have joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the requested period is provided in the table below:  Intake to Regulars at 16 years old by Service, 12-month period to 30 September  Date12 months to 30 September 201612 months to 30 September 201712 months to 30 September 2018All Services1,1406601,530Royal Navy/ Royal Marines100100140Army1,0005001,330Royal Air Force406070 Notes: UK Regulars comprise of full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and Non-Regular Permanent Staff. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.

Armed Forces: Deployment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what her Department's policy is on the deployment of armed personnel to countries where UK citizens have been assessed as at risk.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence takes its responsibility for mitigation of the risks to Armed Forces personnel deployed overseas very seriously. We take a risk-based approach to deployments and consider each on a case by case basis; identified risks are factored into decision making and appropriate action is taken to ensure the safety and security of our Armed forces personnel overseas.

Military Bases: Training

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what he Department's policy is on the modernise of training bases in the UK.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Defence Estate Optimisation Programme aims to support military capability by providing better facilities to support the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families out to 2040 and beyond. It is a detailed, long-term plan which provides a framework for the geographical laydown of our forces in the UK for at least a generation.The programme also aims to reduce the built estate by 30 per cent, making it more efficient and cost effective.

RAF Northolt: Repairs and Maintenance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2019 to Question 228557 on RAF Northolt: Repairs and Maintenance, what progress he has made on (a) the runway and (b) associated infrastructure construction works; what estimate his Department has made of the cost of those works; and if he make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The runway was closed as planned on 15 April 2019 to fixed wing aircraft. Rotary wing operations have continued, while fixed wing aircraft are now operating from RAF Benson.Construction works have commenced to remove the existing runway surface and arrestor beds. This will be followed by preparatory works for resurfacing the runway, installation of new arrestor beds and new approach lighting. Works will continue through summer to be completed in late October 2019.The estimated capital cost of the project is £23 million inclusive of VAT. The works will assure military flying operations in support of UK Defence and the wider Government at RAF Northolt for the next 10 - 15 years.

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250791 on Saudi Arabia: Military Aid, what the (a) roles and (b) functions are of the 60 RAF personnel not embedded with BAE stationed inside Saudi Arabia.

Mark Lancaster: The RAF personnel stationed inside Saudi Arabia perform routine engineering, generic training support and liaison roles.

Turkey: Guided Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations she has made to the Government of Turkey on its potential acquisition of a Russian S-400 missile.

Mark Lancaster: My right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary has not yet had the opportunity to speak with her Turkish counterpart, but we have repeatedly raised our concerns about the proposed Turkish purchase of the Russian S-400 air and missile defence system, at Ministerial and official level. Turkey is a valued NATO ally, on the front line of some of the UK and the Alliance's most difficult security challenges. Defence equipment procurement decisions are for nations, but all NATO Allies have committed to reducing their dependence on Russian-sourced military equipment. The proposed purchase would pose real challenges for the interoperability of NATO systems.

Ministry of Defence: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many companies in each region and nation of the UK secured contracts from her Department in each of the last five years; and what the value of each contract was.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly publishes expenditure data via the Trade, Industry and Contracts bulletin on gov.uk. The data includes information about MOD regional expenditure dating back to 2013 and the latest bulletin can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-201718The MOD does not collate more detailed information about individual companies, nor of the value of individual contracts in each region.

Aircraft Carriers

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when she plans to publish her national carrier policy.

Penny Mordaunt: As I said in my speech on 15 May, the national carrier policy will lay the blueprint for how we propose to utilise our aircraft carriers to deliver global Britain's objectives around the world. This policy is currently under development.

Defence: Procurement

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking to encourage competition in defence procurement.

Stuart Andrew: Competition remains the cornerstone of defence procurement policy, except where other strategic considerations need to be taken into account, for example national security, operational advantage and freedom of action.The Ministry of Defence routinely engages with prime contractors to maximise competition in the supply chain wherever possible; for example, encouraging early visibility of forthcoming requirements.Above all, our focus is on securing the best capability for the Armed Forces at the best value for money for the taxpayer.

Veterans: Mental Health Services

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking with the Department of Health and Social Care to increase the capacity of veteran-specific mental healthcare within the NHS.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ministers from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) meet on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the health and wellbeing of Service personnel and veterans, including mental health. In the United Kingdom the provision of healthcare to the general population, including veterans, is devolved.The DHSC and MOD examine the provision of veterans' mental health services on a regular basis. Data and progress of NHS England's Veterans Mental Health Transition Intervention and Liaison Service and Complex Treatment Service is presented to the MOD/UK Departments of Health Partnership Board, Joint Commissioning Group and the Cabinet Office led Covenant Reference Group.In England, the National Health Service has announced that an extra £10 million will be invested into a new NHS dedicated crisis service that will expand the current bespoke veteran mental health services and provide intensive support to veterans battling alcohol, drugs and mental health problems, capturing those individuals nearing crisis. The extra funding will also enable a roll out of veteran-friendly general practitioner surgeries and hospitals as part of efforts to make sure those who have served their country get the specialist help they deserve in every part of the health service.

National Security

John McNally: What recent assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s ability to tackle (a) hybrid and (b) cyber-enabled threats.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government takes hybrid and cyber threats very seriously, and we are strengthening the UK’s defences against increasingly sophisticated attacks. This includes assessing how we will tackle these threats once we have left the EU. The security partnership agreed between the UK and the EU sets out the broadest and most comprehensive agreement between the EU and a third country.

Armed Forces

Robert Courts: What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) capabilities and (b) strength of the armed forces.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence launched the Modernising Defence Programme in January last year which looked across the spectrum at our current and planned capabilities, right through to our business practices. It is an ambitious programme, but we are confident that Defence is making the right capability investments and policy approaches to ensure we remain one of the strongest Defence players in Europe.

Nuclear Weapons: Employment

Bob Blackman: What recent estimate she has made of the number of jobs supported by the nuclear defence sector.

Stuart Andrew: We estimate, based on industry and Government statistics, that the Defence Nuclear Enterprise supports at least 30,000 jobs, supporting prosperity across the United Kingdom.

Armed Forces Covenant

Kevin Hollinrake: How many organisations have signed up to the armed forces covenant.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To date over 3,600 organisations have signed the Covenant at an average rate of 30 per week, up from five per month in 2014. In addition, all Local Authorities in Great Britain and four in Northern Ireland have pledged to uphold the Armed Forces Covenant. Broadening support for the Covenant is a top priority for the Ministerial Covenant and Veterans Board and the Armed Forces Covenant annual report outlines the progress we have made.

Armed Forces: Pay

Alex Cunningham: What recent discussions she has had with the Armed Forces' Pay Review Body on levels of pay for the armed forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has provided the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body with all its evidence to support their recommendations for Pay Round 2019-20 and is awaiting submission of the Pay Review Body’s final report. The Government will then consider the recommendations before agreeing the final 2019 Armed Forces Pay Award, taking into account the need to recruit, retain, and motivate suitably able and qualified personnel, as well as the long term affordability of the Armed Forces.

Air Commodore Charles Clarke

Mr Steve Baker: If she will pay tribute to Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE.

Penny Mordaunt: Air Commodore Clarke was a great friend and ambassador of the Royal Air Force and a truly remarkable man. Air Commodore Clarke was a member of a World War Two Lancaster aircrew, and one of the last surviving prisoners of the Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp in Poland at the time of the great escape. Following a distinguished career in the RAF, he worked tirelessly as Chairman of the Bomber Command Association, not to mention his support for the RAF Association, RAF Benevolent Fund and the Air Cadets. His courage in the face of adversity is an inspiration to us all, and I know he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him.

Department for International Trade

Saudi Arabia: Sports

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has made to the Saudi Government on reports that live sports broadcasting rights are allegedly being stolen in that country.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member for Sheffield South East to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme on 8 April 2019, UIN: 239902/239903/239904.

Small Businesses: Exports

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of number of SMEs that (a) export, and (b) expressed an intention to stop exporting in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Graham Stuart: The latest published figures from the ONS Business Survey for the calendar year 2017, estimate the number of SMEs (i.e. businesses with an employment size of less than 250) that exported goods and/or services at 232,300. We have no evidence to suggest that businesses will stop exporting if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Department for Transport

Cycling

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve road planning regulations to encourage cycling.

Jesse Norman: The Government has recently strengthened the National Planning Policy Framework to support the take-up of cycling and walking within local development plans.The Department for Transport is currently updating existing guidance set out in Local Transport Note 2/08 to ensure that streets are better designed to lower barriers for people choosing to cycle.The Department has also revised the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions to enable the use of many innovative cycling measures, such as low-level cycle signals, a new parallel crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, and new ways of signing cycling and walking routes.

Southeastern: Conditions of Employment

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department received a request from Govia to vary the pay and conditions of staff employed by Southeastern railway in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 and (c) 2019.

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of extensions to the Southeastern Railway franchise on the pay and conditions of staff working for that franchise.

Andrew Jones: During this period, pay has increased at around the level of the Retail Price Index. The Secretary of State has made clear that the rail industry should be moving towards using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the inflation measure for pay agreements. The pay deals agreed with Southeastern staff during the last 12 months reflect a real terms increase when compared to the CPI and cost of living increases.

South Eastern Rail Franchise

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to further extend the Southeastern Railway franchise.

Andrew Jones: The South Eastern franchise competition is currently in the evaluation phase. The Department is working to achieve the best possible outcome for passengers and taxpayers. An announcement will be made in due course. As the Secretary of State announced on 10 April 2019, the Department for Transport is currently in discussions with the incumbent operator to extend their operation of the franchise to 10 November 2019, with an extension period up to 1 April 2020 called at the Secretary of State’s discretion.

South Eastern Rail Franchise

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the outcome of the Southeastern Railway franchise competition.

Andrew Jones: The South Eastern franchise competition is currently in the evaluation phase. The Department is working to achieve the best possible outcome for passengers and taxpayers, an announcement will be made in due course

Shipping: Training

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2019 to Question 247013 on Shipping: training, how many Ratings have been trained using SMarT category (a) 3 and (b) 5 funding in each year since 1998.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The figures in the table below show the number of trainee ratings who have been supported by SMarT (a) 3 and (b) 5 each financial year since 2011-12. The data held by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency for ratings training prior to 2011-12 includes concessionaire training and does not provide an accurate reflection of ratings training.Financial YearTrainee Ratings SMarT 3Trainee Ratings SMarT 52011/122752012/13852013/14752014/15402015/16432016/17202017/1800

Cycling: Schools

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote cycling among school pupils.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has allocated £12.8 million to the Bikeability cycle training programme for the year 2019/20 and delivered more than 400,000 training places to schoolchildren in 2017/18. The programme has recently secured a sponsorship deal with Halfords which has generated an additional £1 million for training places and free bike safety checks for every child participating in Bikeability.

Roads: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of road crashes resulting in (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries in the last three years.

Jesse Norman: The latest figures available for the total cost elements of reported accidents are:  DeathsSerious injuries2017£3,571M (at 2017 prices)£5,490M (at 2017 prices) A full breakdown on accident and casualty costs by year has been published on www.gov.uk (see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras60-average-value-of-preventing-road-accidents - Table RAS60003 has the total value of prevention for accidents of all severity, by cost element.)

Transport: Infrastructure

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that transport infrastructure improvements are made in areas with a high number of new-build homes.

Jesse Norman: The Government has invested £1.2bn through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) to support housing and further announcements through this £5.5bn fund are expected later this year. A significant number of HIF bids include transport infrastructure. The Government is also investing in transport supporting new homes through the Transforming Cities Fund, Major Road Network, and projects in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.The Government is further promoting integrated housing and transport planning, for example through the revised National Planning Policy Framework.

Great Western Railway Line: Catering

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for the alteration of Great Western Intercity Express trains so that they comply with section 6.2.6 of the Intercity Express Programme technical specification on catering provision.

Andrew Jones: The Intercity Express Programme technical specification includes a requirement that the IEP Trains be capable of providing a range of catering services, from which specific catering services and combinations may be selected. The IEP train also has a flexible design that allows changes to the catering provision in response to future requirements. The Great Western Intercity Express trains comply with all relevant catering requirements and the Department has no plans to make any changes to the Great Western IET fleet.

East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2019 to Question 244025 and the Answer of 8 May 2019 249827 on East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock , what assurances he has received from the train operator as to which type of diesel trains will replace the current fleet on Midland Main Line intercity services; and where those trains will be procured from.

Andrew Jones: Abellio’s bid contained assurances regarding the availability, capability and characteristics of the rolling stock that will be introduced on the Midland Mainline. With regard to the procurement of these trains, I refer the Honourable member to the answer given on 8 May [249827].

Railways: Sheffield

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249824 on Railways: Sheffield, which organisation holds the information requested.

Andrew Jones: Network Rail, who produce industry performance data, may hold the information requested.

Railways: Sheffield

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249824 on Railways: Sheffield, what information his Department holds on train punctuality.

Andrew Jones: The Department holds various punctuality reports relating to the main industry punctuality measures that have been used historically, the Public Performance Measure and Cancellations and Significant Lateness. This information is held at train operator level, and down to the level of groups of services run by an operator. We do not hold data for individual routes themselves.

Birmingham-Bristol Railway Line: Bicycles

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to increase the (a) level of storage and (b) access to storage for bikes on trains at all stops on the route between Birmingham and Bristol.

Andrew Jones: The Department encourages the train operators and Network Rail to continue to increase provision for bike storage at stations where there is demand to do so. Provision for carriage for bikes on trains is a matter for the train operators to balance against the other demands on space - for example for passenger seating, luggage and universally accessible facilities.

River Thames: Boats

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) dates on and (b) reports of all recorded (i) safety breaches and (ii) safety incidents involving (A) the Thames Clipper fleet and (B) other passenger boats on the River Thames since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Operators are required to report certain incidents to the MCA and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). The MCA will liaise with the operator directly and no formal reports are published. Between the beginning of 2010 and the end of 2018, the MAIB received reports of 44 accidents and incidents on the River Thames in the Greater London area that involved vessels in the Thames Clipper fleet and 190 accidents and incidents involving other passenger vessels on the Thames (excluding large sea-going vessels e.g. cruise ships). Investigations are carried out where the MAIB believes there are lessons for the industry to learn and then publishes reports on its investigations online.

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the tonnage tax regime.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I have met with the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on more than one occasion recently, with Tonnage Tax being one of several subjects that were discussed. Officials have also had regular and productive discussions with their counterparts in HMRC and HMT about the current and future Tonnage Tax regime.

Heathrow Airport: Noise

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to aircraft noise nuisance, which communities will receive compensation and noise insulation as a result of the third runway at Heathrow airport; and on what criteria that decision was based.

Jesse Norman: The Airports National Policy Statement sets an expectation that, in addition to controlling and reducing aircraft noise impacts, an applicant for development consent for a Northwest Runway at Heathrow Airport will be required to commit appropriate resources to mitigate the impacts of aircraft through noise insulation programmes for both private homes and public buildings. It notes that Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) has publicly committed, following third party assessments, to provide full acoustic insulation for residential property within the full single mode easterly and westerly 60dB LAeq (16hr) noise contour of an expanded airport; and to provide a contribution of up to £3,000 for acoustic insulation for residential properties within the full single mode easterly and westerly 57dB LAeq (16hr) or the full 55dB Lden noise contours of an expanded airport, whichever is the bigger. In addition, HAL has committed to deliver a programme of noise insulation and ventilation for schools and community buildings within the 60dB LAeq (16hr) contour. The geographical areas that the scheme could cover is dependent on flight paths for an expanded Heathrow Airport. Preparations for the airspace change process are complex and will take some years to work through. In considering the case for expansion the Department commissioned a review of strategies adopted by international airports to mitigate the impact of airports on residents. In considering the scheme proposed by HAL the review found the schemes to be comparable to those on offer in other countries.

Department for Transport: Staff

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the distribution of local recognition awards in the last financial year was by (a) protected characteristic and (b) grades in his core Department.

Jesse Norman: The information requested is not held centrally.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the results and conclusions of the consultation on the draft Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme, which closed on 29 June 2018.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HS2 Ltd undertook a number of engagement events with local communities over the summer of 2018. The responses HS2 Ltd received from local people helped to inform the development of the Prolonged Disruption policy and the design of the scheme.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the (a) announcement and (b) opening of applications for the Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government expects to make an announcement this summer, subject to final approval of the policy within government. The launch of the scheme is tied into the start of permanent construction works, which will trigger the requirements for the scheme.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 215 of the report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill, whether the Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme will include the recommendation that households threatened by construction noise will be entitled to noise insulation as if they were within 120 metres of the line of route in an area where the Rural Support Zone applies.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The provision of noise insulation for those affected by high levels of noise over prolonged periods as a result of construction follows well established practice on major projects and applies to dwellings in both rural and urban areas. That practice is included in HS2 Ltd’s Code of Construction Practice and other commitments made through the Parliamentary process. The Prolonged Disruption Compensation Scheme will allow affected households to opt for compensation as an alternative to being temporarily rehoused when particularly high noise levels are experienced over prolonged periods as a result of construction. In certain circumstances the scheme will allow owner occupiers to request the Secretary of State to purchase their property.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme will make provision for compensation for residents affected by (a) lower air quality, (b) the generation of dust and pollution, (c) traffic disruption, (d) obstruction of vehicle access and (e) access to public transport.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Prolonged Disruption Compensation Scheme uses noise as a proxy for disturbance arising from construction works. All other forms of disruption arising from construction works are prevented or minimised through best practicable means and through compliance with the Environmental Minimum Requirements, the Code of Construction Practice, relevant HS2 Information Papers, and various local consents which control HS2 Ltd’s construction works.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Compensation

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of payments to be made under the Prolonged Disturbance Compensation Scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The scheme has been costed but we continue to refine our understanding of the number of properties likely to trigger the requirement for the Prolonged Disruption Compensation Scheme as the design of Phase One matures ahead of the main works contracts. Until the detailed design of Phase One is finalised, it would be premature to provide a final cost estimate.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Venezuela: Politics and Government

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to representatives of the Government of Venezuela on the promotion of democracy in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: Through our Ambassador and internationally, we are working closely with EU partners, the International Contact Group on Venezuela, regional organisations such as the Lima Group, and like-minded partners to achieve a peaceful resolution to the current crisis and a return to democracy. Unfortunately, this objective continues to be thwarted by the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

Tanzania: Politics and Government

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Government of Tanzania on the promotion of the right to peaceful and democratic opposition in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: On 10 April 2019, our High Commissioner in Tanzania raised our concerns about the deterioration of political and civil society space with President Magufuli. We continue to work with diplomatic partners and civil society to ensure the Government of Tanzania hears the concerns from a range of stakeholders.

Turks and Caicos Islands: Trials

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse has been of the case Turks and Caicos islands against Mr Michael Misick and others.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The trial of Mr Misick and its related costs are the responsibility of the Turks and Caicos islands Government.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Since the Referendum, 65 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff have been transferred to work in other government departments or on other departmental briefs to support EU Exit preparations. Of these 30 have since returned to the FCO.

North Korea: Repatriation

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Governments of (a) China and (b) South Korea on the forced repatriation to North Korea of (i) Choi Byai and (ii) six other North Korean defectors.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports of the seven North Koreans currently being detained in China. We have not raised these particular cases directly with the Chinese or ROK Government but understand the ROK Government is looking into them closely. We continue to emphasise to China that people fleeing North Korea should be treated as legitimate asylum claimants and should not be returned as stipulated by the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

Tamils

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support an international criminal justice mechanism for the human rights crimes committed against Tamils.

Mark Field: A Sri Lankan process initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities offers the best route to achieve accountability for violations and crimes committed, and reconciliation, in Sri Lanka.The United Kingdom co-sponsored the 2014 UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1, which established an investigation into allegations of serious violations and abuses of human rights during Sri Lanka's recent conflict. We welcomed Sri Lanka's co-sponsorship of a new UNHRC Resolution in March 2019, led by the UK, which rolled over Sri Lanka's commitments under Resolution 30/1 on post-civil war reconciliation and accountability. UNHRC Resolution 30/1 welcomed the intention of the Government of Sri Lanka to establish a judicial mechanism to investigate allegations of violations and abuses. It stressed the importance of independent and impartial institutions to ensure the credibility of the mechanism, and highlighted the importance of the participation of international judges, defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators. The UK will continue to support and encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to fully implement the UNHRC resolutionFurthermore, the UK's Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) programme in Sri Lanka provides funding to the UN Peacebuilding Priority Plan, which supports efforts to establish credible and effective transitional justice mechanisms as part of Sri Lanka's reconciliation process.

Venezuela: Hezbollah

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports of Hezbollah’s presence in Venezuela in support of President Maduro.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We are aware of media reports but cannot confirm the accuracy of reports of Hezbollah presence in Venezuela in support of Mr Maduro.

Turkey: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the objectives of the Government's diplomatic and political policy on Turkey are for 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Government will continue to strengthen our partnership with Turkey in order to make both countries safer and more prosperous. This includes working together to support regional stability, partnering on counter terrorism, growing bilateral trade and investment, and upholding the full protection of fundamental rights domestically and internationally.

Iran: Official Visits

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any Ministers have plans to visit Iran in the next six months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As Minister responsible for the UK's relations with Iran, I have yet to visit Tehran, though I hope to be able to visit soon. The Foreign Secretary hopes that the opportunity to travel to Iran will arise in the future but he does not currently have any firm plans to visit. There are no current plans for Iranian ministers to visit the UK for bilateral discussions in this time.

Aras Amiri

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart regarding the sentencing of Aras Amiri.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK continues to be seriously concerned by Iran’s human rights record, including the recent sentencing of Aras Amiri. We are working closely with the British Council to understand the situation further. We regularly raise human rights with the Iranian authorities at all levels and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues.

Aras Amiri

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in response to the sentencing of Aras Amiri.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK continues to be seriously concerned by Iran’s human rights record, including the recent sentencing of Aras Amiri. We are working closely with the British Council to understand the situation further. We regularly raise human rights with the Iranian authorities at all levels and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues.

Cyprus: Exclusive Economic Zone

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government of the Republic of Cyprus has rights to authorise drilling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean Exclusive Economic zone.

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government recognises the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone.

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Turkish counterpart on the incursion into the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone in the Eastern Mediterranean of drilling ships from Turkey.

Harriett Baldwin: Our position remains unchanged: we continue to recognise the sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus to exploit the oil and gas in its internationally agreed Exclusive Economic Zone.With reference to Turkey's planned drilling, the position of the UK is that, in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, exploratory drilling should not proceed in any area where sovereignty is under dispute. We have called on Turkey not to drill in this area. Sir Alan Duncan had made this clear to the Turkish Ambassador in London and the British Ambassador to Ankara has engaged with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urge de-escalation. We continue to believe Cyprus' oil and gas should be developed for the benefit of all Cypriots.

Zimbabwe: Elephants

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the (a) People's Republic of China, (b) United Arab Emirates and (c) Republic of Zimbabwe on the Republic of Zimbabwe's sale of 97 elephants to zoos in China and the UAE since 2012.

Harriett Baldwin: International trade in live elephants from Zimbabwe is permitted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) if certain conditions are met. The UK does not have the power to intervene in the way in which another Party implements the Convention.On 30 April, I spoke to Priscah Mupfumira, Zimbabwe Minister of Environment, Tourism and the Hospitality Industry, raising our concerns pertaining to elephants captured from the wild in Zimbabwe. Our Embassies in Beijing and Abu Dhabi are aware of the issue and regularly raise conservation issues with the respective governments.

Zimbabwe: Ivory

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to change its policy in respect of the representations made by the Republic of Zimbabwe for the lifting of the global ban on the ivory trade in order to sell £231 million of ivory.

Harriett Baldwin: We have no plans to change our policy regarding the sale of ivory. The international trade in elephant ivory is currently banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A proposal has been put forward by a small number of CITES Parties, including Zimbabwe, for consideration at the 18th meeting of CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) to resume international trade in ivory from these countries. These proposals will be subject to robust challenge at the CoP before any decision.

Zimbabwe: Elephants

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the accuracy and (b) the implications of the assessment by the Tourism Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe that Zimbabwe's carrying capacity is 55,000 elephants but the country now has a population of 85,000 elephants.

Harriett Baldwin: Zimbabwe has the second largest population of elephants in the world and overpopulation of elephants is a result of good conservation practice. We are working with the Government of Zimbabwe on long term solutions to the issue, such as our Green Corridors initiative, and will continue to support wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.

Occupied Territories: Overseas Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his US counterpart on the US decision to stop all aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The UK maintains a regular dialogue with the US on a range of Middle East issues, and the Foreign Secretary has discussed the specific issue of US funding cuts for the UN Relief and Works Agency with Senior Adviser to the President, Jared Kushner. The UK has also made a number of official-level representations to the US highlighting our concern about the impact on US funding cuts.

Sudan: Demonstrations

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether British diplomats received a warning not to attend protests in the days before protesters in Khartoum were violently attacked on 13 May 2019.

Harriett Baldwin: On Sunday 12 May our Ambassador to Khartoum, alongside a group of Western Heads of Mission including the American Chargé and Head of the Delegation of the EU to Sudan, were summoned to the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and requested by the Sudanese authorities to avoid visits to the site of the protests due to safety concerns in the area. Our Embassy in Khartoum is in close proximity to the sit-in area. There was violence in this area during the evenings of the 13 May and 15 May.

Homosexuality: Capital Punishment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of people put to death for contravening laws on homosexuality globally in 2018.

Mark Field: The FCO does not collect statistics for the number of executions carried out worldwide. According to Amnesty International's published figures, which do not include figures for China, at least 690 executions in 20 countries took place in 2018. These do not specify the number of executions carried out for contravening laws on homosexuality.The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. We directly challenge governments that criminalise homosexuality, at the highest possible level, and we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. We regularly set out our position on the death penalty and defend the rights of LGBT individuals at the Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly Third Committee, and through the Universal Periodic Review process.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Sri Lanka’s compliance with UN Resolution 30/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka which that country co-sponsored with the UK at the UN Human Rights Council in 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: On 21 March the Annual Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights assessed progress made by the Sri Lankan government in the implementation of UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 and 34/1. We agree that progress has been made and welcome restoration of important democratic checks and balances, improvements in freedom of expression and assembly, the return of some military–held civilian land, the establishment of an Office of Missing Persons and the ratification of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances.However, we want to see further and faster progress. In particular, we encourage the Government to establish the full range of transitional justice mechanisms envisaged in resolution 30/1, to deliver meaningful devolution through constitutional reform, replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act with human rights compliant legislation, and return all remaining military-held private land. We continue to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to deliver fully on the commitments it made in resolutions 30/1 and 34/1.On 21 March, the UK introduced a new Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva rolling over these commitments, calling for the development of a comprehensive and time bound implementation strategy. I am pleased that this Resolution was adopted by consensus with 42 co-sponsors, including Sri Lanka.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Former Ministers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much his Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Harriett Baldwin: Any such payments are published in DFID’s audited annual accounts, which can be found on gov.uk.

Department for International Development: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID is working closely with other government departments to facilitate the return of staff deployed to other government departments, following the extension of Article 50. As of 14 May 2019, 90 staff have returned.

Non-governmental Organisations

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that NGOs are able to continue their work unaffected by the UK leaving the EU.

Harriett Baldwin: The Withdrawal Agreement ensures that UK based organisations will be able to bid for funding, participate in and lead consortia and otherwise implement as normal EU development programmes that are approved before December 2020 until they complete. Furthermore, we are clear that any future UK financial contribution to the EU would require eligibility for UK entities to bid for and implement programmes where the UK funds. We regularly consult NGOs regarding their concerns to ensure we can support our world-class development sector. I therefore urge the Hon. Gentleman to support the Withdrawal Agreement.

East Africa: Marie Stopes International

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether his Department has allocated funding to Marie Stopes International to fund political advocacy to change laws on abortion in (a) Malawi and (b) South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID does not currently fund Marie Stopes International to fund political advocacy to change laws on abortion in either South Sudan or Malawi.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Ebola

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is an immediate priority for his Department; and whether he has immediate plans to travel to the region.

Harriett Baldwin: The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is an immediate priority for the Department for International Development (DFID), we have dedicated teams leading a coordinated UK HMG response effort. The UK is one of the leading donors to the response in DRC, and preparedness efforts in the region.DFID have so far contributed £33.5 million to Ebola in DRC in 2018/19. Moreover, we are the leading donor by far for regional preparedness, contributing £14 million across the most-at-risk countries (mainly for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan). We have also provided specialist staff into the response and are continuing to push other donors to step up their engagement. Beyond funding and technical support, we are actively lobbying to improve management of the response, including coordination. While the efforts of the Government of DRC and the WHO have been laudable, significant improvements must be made in terms of coordination and management to bring the outbreak to an end.I plan to visit North Kivu in Eastern DRC later this month to understand the situation on the ground and how the UK can continue to support the response. One immediate priority is the need to galvanise other donors to support the response and preparedness efforts. We are also working closely with responders on the ground to ensure management and coordination of the response reflects the severity of the current situation and the high risk of further spread, and to build trust with affected communities.

Department for Education

Pupil Exclusions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between (a) disparities in funding for schools and local authorities and (b) rates of pupil exclusion.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 13 May 2019



There is no known correlation at area level between rates of exclusion and levels of funding. This Government has prioritised funds for the most disadvantaged pupils, including through the Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium Plus, which supports looked after children. For children and young people with more complex needs, the Department has also confirmed an additional £250 million in high needs funding over 2018-19 and 2019-20, included in the £6.3 billion total for high needs funding this year.

Pupil Referral Units: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of education in pupil referral units.

Nick Gibb: The Government is taking forward a programme of reform to alternative provision (AP), including pupil referral units, and set out its vision for reform in the March 2018 document: 'Creating opportunity for all: our vision for alternative provision'. Since then the Government has made significant progress by launching a £4 million AP Innovation Fund, which is developing best practice and delivering projects to improve outcomes for pupils in AP, by publishing two research reports into AP with examples of good practice for providers and commissioners, and by opening 6 AP free schools and approving two more. In response to the Timpson Review of school exclusion, the Government committed to setting out plans to go further to improve outcomes for children in AP, including how to support alternative providers to attract and develop high-quality staff through a new AP workforce programme, and how it will help commissioners and providers to identify and recognise good practice.

Children: Mental Health

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide additional funding for early support for children with mental health problems.

Nick Gibb: ​The Department for Education is working closely with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to support schools and colleges to provide support for children and young people with emerging mental health issues and secure specialist treatment where it is needed. The NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019 announced that by 2023/24 an extra 345,000 children and young people in England aged 0-25 will receive mental health support via NHS funded mental health services and new Mental Health Support Teams. Mental health services will continue to receive a growing share of the NHS budget, with funding to grow by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Spending on children and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than adult services, and faster than other NHS spending. As set out in the 'Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision' green paper, the new support teams will work with groups of schools and colleges to provide swift access to support for children and young people with emerging and mild and moderate needs and support referrals to more specialist treatment.The Department for Education is providing up to £95 million between 2019/20 and 2023/24 to support the delivery of the green paper proposals, including the costs of a significant training programme for senior mental health leads, to help schools and colleges to put in place whole school approaches to supporting pupil mental health.​

Morning Lane Associates

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what work is outstanding under his Department's contracts with Morning Lane Associates as (a) sole provider and (b) part of a consortium.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education,pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250518 on Morning Lane Associates, what the start and end dates were of the contracts that Morning Lane Associates undertook, in partnership with KPMG, in relation to the national assessment and accreditation system for children and family social workers.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250518, Morning Lane Associates, for what reason the £4.4 million awarded to Morning Lane Associates to implement the Reclaiming Social Work approach in five local authorities was not included in that Answer.

Nadhim Zahawi: There are no outstanding contracts with Morning Lane Associations (MLA). The department entered in to a consortium contract, which included MLA and was led by KPMG on 26 March 2015. This contract was to develop an assessment and accreditation process for child and family social workers. This contract was extended in October 2015 and ended on 31 May 2016. MLA was not directly awarded £4.4 million. MLA received £1.6 million of funding to support the innovation project ‘Reclaiming Social Work’. The additional money for this project was paid directly to local authorities through a section 31 grant.

Teachers: Training

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to develop National Professional Qualifications on (a) SEND and (b) literacy.

Nick Gibb: As set out in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the Department has committed to develop new specialist National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). The focus of the specialist NPQs is yet to be finalised, but they will be linked to the core areas in which teachers receive training at the start of their career, such as assessment, behaviour management, subject and curriculum expertise and pedagogy. The Department will continue to work with the sector, including special education needs and disability stakeholders and literacy specialists, as we design these qualifications. The Department will release further details in due course.

Higher Education: EU Countries

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress his Department has made to ensure reciprocal arrangements on student fees with EU partners after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Skidmore: Entitlement to student finance and home fees status in the UK after the implementation period for those outside the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement is under consideration by the UK government and the devolved administrations.For EU students already enrolled on courses in the UK, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the UK government has already provided certainty. Students from the EU starting courses in England in the 2019/20 academic year will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee status’, meaning they will be charged the same tuition fees as UK students and have access to tuition fee loans for the duration of their studies.More broadly, the UK government has been engaging directly with their EU counterparts on a range of issues, including securing citizens’ rights reassurances. These span a number of areas including on access to education.

Leader of the House

Parlt Commissioner for Standards

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Committee on Standards is supplied with sufficient information to enable its members to fulfil their remit under Standing Order 149(1) to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner On Standards in the exercise of her duties under Standing Order 150.

Andrea Leadsom: It is for the Committee on Standards to determine and obtain what information it needs to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The Government will consider any requests from the Committee on Standards should it require support.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fuel Poverty

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effects on competition of proposals in his Department's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood on fuel poverty in England; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Impact Assessment accompanying this consultation includes a Competition Assessment. This can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/air-quality-using-cleaner-fuels-for-domestic-burning

Fishing Catches

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the proposed new catch recording requirements for under 10 metre fishing vessels will come into force; and whether those requirements will (a) replace or (b) be additional to the existing catch (i) landing and (ii) sales recording requirements.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The new catch recording requirements are due to come into force in summer 2019 and where possible they will replace existing catch recording documents such as the paper shellfish return. Landing declarations are not currently required from under 10 metre vessels and, following an industry consultation, this will continue to be the case under the new catch recording requirements. Sales notes are the responsibility of merchants and will still be required.

Air Pollution: Schools

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce air pollution around schools.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Our Clean Air Strategy sets out measures to reduce emissions of pollution, improving public health.The Government has put in place a £3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions.The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in London. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality. Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. Defra has awarded over £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19.

Water Supply: Competition

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of commercial enterprises using water suppliers that are competing for customers.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Ofwat’s report on the first year of the market, Open for business, set out how customers have engaged with the market, and the extent of switching. The report can be found here: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/State-of-the-market-report-2017-18-FINAL.pdf.

Water Supply: Competition

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timeframe is for the roll-out of water competition between suppliers for domestic household consumers.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There has been no decision on whether to roll out water competition between suppliers for domestic household consumers. The Government is looking to learn lessons from opening the water market for business customers, particularly with regard to the impacts on bills, customer service, innovation and efficiency, before making any decision on whether to roll out water competition between suppliers for domestic household consumers. In particular, we need to ensure the benefits can be delivered and vulnerable customers can be protected.

Water Supply: Competition

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which region has the (a) greatest and (b) least level of competition in the supply of water for commercial enterprises.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Department does not hold data on this.

Recycling

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of a national campaign to (a) reinforce recycling behaviour, (b) signpost recycling facilities and (c) ensure the public know what materials they can recycle.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Our consultations on ‘consistency in household and business recycling collections in England’ and on ‘reforming the packaging producer responsibility schemes’ proposed measures for local authorities collecting the same core set of materials for recycling from households and potentially using fees from producers to fund public communication campaigns on recycling. Our consultations also proposed a mandatory UK wide labelling scheme in which producers label their packaging as recyclable or not recyclable. These consultations closed on 13 May and we are currently analysing responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course. Defra currently supports the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s RecycleNow campaign which provides support for local campaigns. It also provides a toolkit for local authorities to help with their messaging on recycling.

Water Supply: Desalination

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of England's water was produced by desalination in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The only major desalination scheme currently operating in the UK is Thames Water’s plant at Beckton. It is capable of producing up to 150 million litres of water per day and has been operational since 2010. However, it is only used intermittently when Thames Water considers it necessary.

Plastics: Waste

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of plastic waste which will be produced per annum in the event that avoidable plastic waste is reduced to zero by 2050 in accordance with the Government's strategic ambition.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government has committed to eliminating all avoidable plastic waste throughout the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan. Our working definition of ‘avoidable plastic waste’ is plastic waste that is technically, economically, and environmentally feasible to reuse or recycle, or, where this does not apply, it is (technically, economically, and environmentally) feasible to replace with alternatives that are reusable or recyclable. It is our intention that there will not be any avoidable plastic waste by 2050. We will be publishing an evaluation plan and indicator framework for the Resources and Waste Strategy later this year. This will set out further details on how we intend to monitor progress to reduce avoidable waste. This will be a living document where we will publish updates as we develop our methodologies to better capture the data and as new evidence comes to light, particularly with the indicator framework. We are confident that we have set out an ambitious programme of reform which will ensure that we meet our strategic goals.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Staff

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by his Department in (a) May 2017 and (b) May 2018.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Please find the answer to this question below. The information is taken as at the last working day of each month. DateHeadcountFTEMay 20172,2452,159.91May 20183,7693,606.33 All information relating to headcount and FTE figures for Core Defra and ALBs is published monthly in the Monthly Workforce Management Information report. Please see the link below for more information: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/9fb1ed1f-00c9-421b-ab18-c30c14559681/workforce-management-information-defra The answer covers permanent (payroll staff) for the department only. The response excludes contingent labour (Agency Staff/Consultants/Contractors/Interim Managers).

Weedkillers: Cancer

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether the weedkiller RoundUp is a potential cause of cancer.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Like all pesticides, Roundup (a range of weedkillers containing glyphosate) is subject to strict regulation to ensure that its use will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment. The European Commission decided in December 2017 to approve glyphosate for continuing use until December 2022. The decision followed a scientific risk assessment by the European Food Safety Authority, which included a very close scrutiny of the evidence on whether glyphosate causes cancer. UK experts participated in that assessment and supported its conclusions. All pesticide products, including Roundup, are tightly regulated by the Health and Safety Executive. They are only authorised for use if scientific data demonstrates that they will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment. We will continue to keep an active watch on the scientific evidence on glyphosate.

Solid Fuels: Heating

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the (a) level of and (b) type of toxins released as a result of the domestic burning of (i) smokeless briquettes, (ii) wet wood, (iii) dried wood and (iv) house coal as part of his Department's consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood in England; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the Hon. Member to the reply previously given to the Rt Hon. Member for Birkenhead, Frank Field, on 16 May 2019 to PQ 252836.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Former Ministers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department for Exiting the European Union publishes information on severance payments made to all former Ministers in its annual report and accounts. These are available on Gov.uk and information on payments made in 2018/19 will become available on publication of this year's annual report.

Visas: EU Countries

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Department for Exiting the European Union, by which date he plans to have completed negotiations with EU27 countries on the reciprocal mobility agreements for workers in the creative industries that require short-term visas.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government understands the importance of mobility to the creative industries. That is why we have proposed reciprocal mobility arrangements with the EU that support businesses to provide services and move their talented people. We also want to discuss how to facilitate the temporary mobility of self-employed professionals and employees providing services.The Political Declaration agreed between the UK and the EU negotiating parties specifically acknowledges the importance of mobility for cultural cooperation. The detail of our reciprocal mobility arrangements will be discussed in the next phase of negotiations. In line with procedure under Article 50, these negotiations will not commence until after the UK leaves the EU and we will aim to have arrangements in place at the end of the Implementation Period.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: ICT

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2019 to Question 249206 on Members: Allowances, what the (a) forecast and (b) final cost was of the new IPSA IT system; and what assessment was made of additional costs that would be incurred by MPs' staff to work on the new system.

Mr Charles Walker: I have asked IPSA to reply.The original April 2016 business case for IPSA’s new IT system, IPSA Online, estimated a cost of £4.641 million. At that time, IPSA expected the programme to be completed in 2017-18. The full costs of the system are now forecast to be £8.253 million.The increase in cost was due in part to the unexpected General Election of June 2017 which diverted all IPSA work for up to nine months to supporting MPs who left or joined parliament, and increased supplier costs. Costs also increased following our change of suppliers in September 2018 to improve the quality of IPSA’s IT support. IPSA also spent longer than anticipated on testing the new system so that IPSA could have confidence that it would be fully secure and free of technical problems. The increases in cost have been partly mitigated by savings elsewhere in IPSA’s budget.The new system administers MPs’ pay and business costs more efficiently and effectively, providing improved support to MPs and their staff while saving taxpayers’ money. MPs and their staff will benefit from these improvements by being able to access information and make changes to their staffing budget or office leases without needing to contact IPSA staff. They can now also access IPSA’s system directly through their secure parliamentary digital account without an additional logon. MPs and staff no longer need to send IPSA paper receipts and invoices through the post, but can scan and photograph them and upload them to IPSA digitally. The new system can also reimburse MPs’ staff directly rather than via the MP. On the basis of the experience so far, IPSA estimate that MPs will need to spend around 30 per cent less time overall on the new system than they did on the old one.However, IPSA recognise that many MPs and their staff still need to get used to the new system. IPSA are therefore conducting group and one-to-one training in Parliament and have staff available on the phone to answer queries. IPSA are putting on more such training sessions in response to demand, with a regular presence in Portcullis House.IPSA will shortly conduct a survey to gather more feedback about the new system, with plans for further improvements in due course. IPSA will report to the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA later in the year on the overall costs and benefits of IPSA Online.

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Location

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the cost has been of the move by IPSA to new premises in central London; and what assessment was made of the potential merits of moving the organisation to a cheaper location outside London.

Mr Charles Walker: I have asked IPSA to reply.IPSA moved into new office premises at 85 Strand in March 2019. The forecasted cost of this move is £732,900. This budget was approved by the Speaker’s Committee for the IPSA in January 2018. IPSA’s Annual Accounts for the 2018-19 financial year are being finalised and will be laid in Parliament in November. The Speaker’s Committee will have an opportunity to scrutinise this and other expenditure.After reviewing properties on the market, the offices selected met IPSA’s criteria and offered the best value for money to the taxpayer over the long term, with competitive running cost over the life of the lease after completing initial fit-out work. Locations outside of London were considered. IPSA concluded that basing IPSA’s office in London and within reasonable distance of Parliament would ensure that IPSA can provide a better support to MPs and their staff, including regular meetings between them and their IPSA account managers.

Attorney General

Prosecutions: West Midlands

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249931 on Prosecutions: West Midlands, what the average time was for the CPS to reach a decision in the West Midlands in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: Records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), provide data showing the average time (in calendar days) from receipt of the pre-charge case to the decision to charge. The table below shows the average number of days from the date a charging decision is requested by the police to the date the decision to charge is taken for the West Midlands Area in each year from 2013/14 to 2017/18.  2013-20142014-20152015-20162016-20172017-2018West Midlands10.5410.9511.6514.4117.31Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System During this period there has been a shift in the type of pre-charge decisions referred to the CPS. For example, in the period between 2013/14 and 2017/18, there was an increase of over 26% in rape flagged pre-charge decisions referred to CPS West Midlands. Rape and serious sexual offences investigations can be highly complex in nature and typically involve the review of a large quantity of evidence resulting in an increase in the amount of time required for the CPS to come to a charging decision.

Wales Office

Poverty: Disability

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, on what dates (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have met with counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss poverty rates for disabled people in Wales in each of the last two years; and what the outcomes were of those meetings.

Alun Cairns: Wales Office Ministers and I meet regularly with colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions on an array of issues including those facing disabled people in Wales.The percentage of working age adults in Wales who live in a household where there was someone with a disability that were in relative poverty has fallen 3 percentage points when compared with two years earlier.We are committed to supporting disabled people across the UK, and under this Government around 1 million disabled households will gain on average around £100 more per month on Universal Credit than on legacy benefits.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Former Members

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has paid to hon. Members under section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 since 13 July 2016.

Robert Buckland: Any such payments are published in the Department’s audited annual accounts which are available on gov.uk. Information for 2016-17 can be found on Page 55 and is available at this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630239/moj-annual-report-2016-17.pdf Information for 2017-18 can be found on page 61 and is available at this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/722537/MoJ_annual_reports_and_accounts_2017-18__web_.pdf Information for 2017-18 will be made available when the annual accounts are published in June.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the appointment of Vera Baird as Victims' Commissioner, (a) what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of holding a by-election for a new Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner; and (b) whether an assessment was made of that cost as part of that appointment process.

Edward Argar: The role of the Victims’ Commissioner is greatly valued across the justice system and the Government welcomes the recent appointment of Dame Vera Baird QC to the role. Dame Vera’s appointment was made in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments which prescribes that all public appointments should be governed by the principle of appointment on merit. An assessment of the costs of a by-election was not factored into the appointment process. A Police and Crime Commissioner by-election will be run by a statutorily independent Returning Officer and will be funded out of the Consolidated Fund.

Offences against Children: Trials

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on victims of historical child sexual abuse of providing them with an alternative to court proceedings involving a jury trial.

Edward Argar: Tackling historical sexual abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice is a government priority. It is vital that victims are provided with support to cope and recover from the impact of crime, regardless of whether they choose to report the crime to the police. The right of defendants in Crown Court cases to be tried by their peers is a fundamental part of our justice system and the government has no plans to interfere with it.

Offences against Children: Trials

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether advice and training is in place for jury members deciding on cases of historical childhood sexual abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: Juries are randomly selected, independent and make decisions purely on the basis of the facts presented to them by the prosecution and defence. Jury members receive no advice or training prior to being called to serve on any case. However, they are guided and supported by the trial judge who advises them on the relevant points of law and reminds them of their role.Judges hearing serious sex offence cases are required to have specialist training and specific instructions on how to direct the jury in sexual offence cases are available. There is guidance provided to judges in the Crown Court Compendium (a publicly available document) as to what directions may be given to juries in appropriate circumstances. https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/crown-court-compendium-published-december-2018/

Prisoners: Autism

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women in prison are on the autistic spectrum.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male and (b) female people in young offending institutions have autism.

Robert Buckland: The MoJ does not centrally hold specific information on the number of prisoners who are on the autistic spectrum, either within prisons or young offender’s institutions. The most recent, available data from the Department for Education (2014/15) shows that 0.25% of Offender Learners (defined as offenders aged 18 or over that participated in Skills Funding Agency funded learning while in the prison system) self-declared as having a learning difficulty classified within the Autistic Spectrum Disorder category. This represents 250 out of 101,600 learners. This data is not, however, separated out by gender. The MoJ is committed to ensuring that all individuals who come into contact with the prison system are able to access the right support to help them engage with their sentence. We are therefore taking a number of steps to improve data collection on disability within prisons. This includes work by HM Prisons and Probation Service looking at how disabilities data can be better categorised on the Prison National Offender Management System (P-NOMIS) for offenders aged 18 and over to improve staff awareness.Health and justice partners are also working to establish the new Health and Justice Information Service (HJIS) to improve the link between prisons and community by introducing a system of sharing clinical records between community and prison on reception, and from prison back to the community on release. Finally, the new adult prison education framework contracts, which commenced on 1 April, have introduced numerous improvements to the way prisoners aged 18 and over with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) are screened and provided with regular and consistent support throughout their sentence.

Offenders: Pupil Exclusions

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted of a crime and sentenced to time in prison in each of the last five years had been excluded from their primary school.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Contracts

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question 251408 on Prisons: Contracts, which versions of the Model for Operational Delivery have previously been made available to potential private prison contractors.

Robert Buckland: Two versions of the ‘Model for Operational Delivery: New Resettlement Prison’ document have been made available to bidders as part of the prison operator services competition. These were versions 1.7 and the current version, 1.8 (which has been placed in the House Library).

Young Offender Institutions

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which of the recommendations made in the Youth Custody Improvement Board report, published in February 2017, have been (a) fully, (b) partially and (c) not achieved.

Edward Argar: In January 2017 we established a Youth Custody Reform Programme in response to the recommendations made in Charlie Taylor’s review of the youth justice system, published in December 2016. Our response to the recommendations subsequently made by the Youth Custody Improvement Board (YCIB) were also incorporated into this programme. To date, of the 19 recommendations made by the YCIB, nine have been fully achieved and six have been partially achieved. A table setting out all of the recommendations and our progress against each of them is attached below. RecommendationStatusMinisters should clearly define what they believe the youth custodial system is attempting to achieve, and only then how the success criteria can be developed in order to deliver itPartially achieved. The Youth Custody Service (YCS) was established with a clear mission statement tosupport young people in custody to live positive and crime-free livesreduce the numbers of young people released from our care who reoffendcreate an environment that is educational, safe and decentimprove safety and maximise opportunities for personal growth.Performance of the youth justice system is monitored by a quarterly performance board chaired by the Permanent Secretary across key metrics and we are working to develop a performance framework applicable across the secure estate.One national body should be accountable for leading and taking responsibility for overseeing the Youth Secure Estate (YSE), to ensure the vision for the estate is understood across the system, a plan for fulfilling it is implemented and that support and specialist professional advice is provided from the centre.Fully achieved. The YCS was formally established in September 2017.Decisive action should be taken to bring the 8 existing establishments within one structured system of governance and accountability.Fully achieved. The YCS has oversight of the whole YSE with one Executive Director directly accountable to ministers.A new framework for assessing the performance of individual establishments should be established by the new national bodyPartially achieved. The YCS have an assurance framework in place and have established a programme of work to re-evaluate data recording with the ambition of developing a sector-wide performance framework.HMPPS must urgently bring in appropriate expertise and leadership to boost its capacity in caring for young people.Fully achieved. The creation of the YCS brought expertise across the sector together by combining the Young People’s Estate with the custodial operations of the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The YCS now has experienced, directly accountable, leadership in the post of Executive Director and two new Deputy Director posts with responsibility for reform, placements and casework; assurance and contracted services.Plans for extending the autonomy of governors in the YSE should be introduced as soon as is practical.Partially achieved. The YCS has devolved additional funds and spending powers for YCS governors regarding education (amounting to £1.8m across the four public-sector YOIs in 2019/20), and we are considering other ways in which we can extend their autonomy and flexibility to innovate.Immediate action must be taken to appoint a skilled individual to the proposed new post of Director of the YSE.Fully achieved. The YCS has had a dedicated Executive Director, accountable to ministers, since April 2017.All new staff in the YSE should have appropriate skills and knowledge of working with young people.Fully achieved. The YCS established a bespoke recruitment route and induction training programme in April 2018 to ensure staff are recruited with the right skills and values for working with young people. All new recruits will be expected to complete the new professionalisation programme (see below). We have used this recruitment route to expand the capacity of YOIs – there were 315 more Band 3-5 frontline officers in the YCS at the end of 2018 than at the end of 2017, and increase of 35%.[1]A training programme for existing staff at all levels of the YSE should be developed to heighten and develop their skills working with young people.Fully achieved. The YCS has established a youth custody professionalisation programme (to foundation degree level) for frontline staff of Bands 3 and 4 or their equivalents in the private sector. Thee staff will be transitioned into a new Band 4 Youth Justice Specialist role upon completion of the training. Over 400 staff have been enrolled on this training to date, and the first YJ Specialists were confirmed in post this month. We are developing further training options for managers.The MoJ should identify immediately what additional measures can be taken in each YOI and STC to improve the safety of young people.Fully achieved. The YCS has introduced a new evidence-based behaviour management strategy focusing on proactive relationship-building and positive reinforcement. This will sit alongside a new holistic care framework for children and staff developed by the NHS, the recruitment of more psychology staff in YOIs, new critical case panels for the children who present the most severe issues, and the building of two new Enhanced Support Units (ESUs).A comprehensive review of the specific needs of young people and the specific forms of interventions required should be undertaken as an essential prerequisite to opening new specialist units in YOIs and STCs. Appropriate specialist staff should also be appointed by the time such units become operational.Fully achieved.  The YCS has a detailed evidence-based operating model and eligibility criteria for ESUs developed by psychological and healthcare staff. Dedicated staff were in post for each before becoming operational.As a priority, specific consideration must be given to the over-representation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) young people in the YSE and further action be taken urgently to ensure young BAME people do not experience discrimination whilst in custody.Partially achieved. The MoJ has created a dedicated youth disproportionality team with a key focus on explaining or changing disproportionate outcomes for BAME children in the justice system and the YCS has introduced a new behaviour management framework which requires each establishment to demonstrate a commitment to addressing discrimination and disadvantage and to promote equitable outcomes for children.[2]The government should carry out a clear needs analysis of young people in custody, with a particular focus on mental health, mental and neurodevelopmental disorders. This will allow full details of the cohort and what services they need to aid effective and appropriate commissioning.Partially achieved. The MoJ carried out a comprehensive cohort analysis, including mental health needs, of the youth secure estate at the start of the programme to guide the development of reform proposals and service commissioning. Comprehensive identification of children’s needs relating to neurodiversity and mental health are performed on entry into custody by healthcare and this process itself is under review (see below).A review of the use of the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) should be undertaken to ensure it is effectively collecting and communicating the information about individual young people that is needed.Partially achieved. A comprehensive review of the CHAT has been undertaken by NHS England and its conclusions are being finalised, after which an action plan will be developed to implement its recommendations.Ministers should consider removing the requirement for 30 hours of education and replacing it with a national framework based on ensuring each young person has mastered the basics of learning and can develop relevant academic and vocational skills.Not yet achieved. We are retendering education contracts for 2021 and intend to test elements of core day and curriculum flexibility with our current providers to inform this exercise.National minimum standards of experience should be required for teaching in YSE establishments, with greater consideration given to the calibre of teaching staff recruited.Not yet achieved. We are retendering education contracts for 2021 and as part of this we are exploring new models and types of provider, including the staffing requirements.For the purposes of the pilot, the MoJ should consider direct management of the 2 secure schools through a national agency, government department or local authority model.Rejected. Secure schools will be set up and run by not-for-profit secure academy trusts. Providers will have to have a clear child-focused ethos at their core and a proven record of the knowledge and skills required to work with children in crisis. Secure academy trusts will enter into a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Justice and be accountable to himPlans for piloting secure schools should give serious consideration to how provision for young women could be made within them.Fully achieved. All children that are currently deemed suitable for placement into YOIs and STCs, including girls, will be considered for Secure Schools. In our published ‘Guidance on How to Apply to Run a Secure School’,[3] we have advised potential providers that they will deliver a provision that caters to the specific needs of girls and demonstrate how an understanding of their lives and diverse needs will inform interventions at the secure school.Each of the piloted secure schools should be designed to test evidence-based approaches with a specific cohort of young people, for example those serving long (or short) sentences, or those that would benefit from, and respond to, a therapeutic model of intervention and care.Rejected.  Any boy or girl aged 12 to 17 who is remanded or sentenced into youth detention accommodation could be placed into a secure school, and we expect them to accommodate children with a wide range of complex needs. The secure schools model has been designed to deliver an individualised, therapeutic approach to meeting children’s needs that ultimately addresses their offending behaviour and improve their life chances, which is based on evidence of what works and we believe they underpin best practice for any type of youth custody provision. Rigorous evaluations will be carried out to evaluate the benefits and impacts on children within custody, the estate’s workforce, and the community as a whole [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bridges-a-positive-behaviour-framework-for-the-children-and-young-people-secure-estate[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secure-schools-how-to-apply

Young Offenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of children in custody were held on remand in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The table below sets out the proportion of the average monthly custodial population of under 18s who were on remand for each year from 2009/10 to 2017/18:2009/1024%2010/1126%2011/1224%2012/1322%2013/1421%2014/1523%2015/1622%2016/1721%2017/1824% This data can be found in supplementary table “Ch 7 – Children in youth custody” of our Youth Justice annual statistics for 2017 to 2018 for England and Wales: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2017-to-2018

Young Offenders: Children in Care

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of looked-after children in custody have a resettlement care plan confirmed 10 working days prior to their release from custody.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many looked-after children are currently held in custody.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many looked-after children were released from (a) young offenders institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes without a confirmed education, training or employment placement in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many looked-after children were released from (a) young offenders institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes without a confirmed address to go to in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many looked-after children were held in (a) young offenders institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many looked-after children were held in each (a) young offenders institution, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s home in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally and could not be collated without incurring disproportionate cost. Each young person in custody’s individual record would need to be analysed in order to obtain information relating to ‘Looked After Children’ status.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Consultants

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2019 to Question 231973 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Consultants, for what reason the figure for the total spend by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service on consultancy in 2016-17 provided in that Answer differs from the total figure for that expenditure published on page 47 of the HM Courts & Tribunals Service Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17.

Paul Maynard: The previous parliamentary question 231973 asked for total spend on consultancy in 2016-17, so the figures provided were extracted from the Bravo contract system which reports all spend that has been invoiced during the reporting period. HM Courts & Tribunals Service Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17 are prepared on an accruals basis - this is when the cost is recognised within the relevant period in which the department derives the benefit of the services acquired or consume the goods purchased, regardless of when invoices are received or payment was made – and is the reason why the Answer to Question 231973 differs. The Annual Report & Accounts are prepared in accordance with accounting standards and are subject to audit. By making use of consultants, the department can save on salary, national insurance and pension costs associated with permanently employing individuals whose skills may not be needed after a set period.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.

Mr David Lidington: Twelve civil servants from my Department have been seconded or transferred to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU. So far, 3 have returned.  EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. The Department for International Trade works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade. Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's letter of 10 May 2018 to Sir Martin Moore-Bick, what the timetable is for appointing the two additional panel members to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 246580 on 30 April 2019.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when phase two of the Grenfell Tower inquiry led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick is planned to start.

Mr David Lidington: The timing and handling of the Inquiry is a matter for the independent Inquiry and the Government hopes that the report for phase 1 will be published soon. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has already begun Phase 2 with the ongoing disclosure of thousands of documents to core participants. Phase 2 of the Inquiry will address the design and modification of the building; the fire and safety measures within it; the management, governance and inspection of the tower; and the steps taken in the days immediately following the fire to support those whose homes had been destroyed. The Inquiry expects the Phase 2 hearings to begin in early 2020

Committee on Standards in Public Life

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what response the Prime Minister has given to the Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life submitted to her on 3 July 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: The Committee on Standards in Public Life's report, entitled MPs' Outside Interests, made a number of recommendations to Parliament and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. One recommendation was addressed to Government, which was that all candidates at Parliamentary elections must publish, at nomination, whether they intend to continue to hold any existing interests if elected. The Cabinet Office is considering this recommendation and will respond in due course.

Voting Rights

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made towards implementing the measures set out in the Government’s response to the Call for Evidence on Access to Elections; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: It is important everyone who is eligible to participate in our democracy can do so. TheGovernment is taking action to make elections more accessible for disabled people.In partnership with the Government-chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group, theactions contained in the 30 August response to the Call for Evidence on Access toElections are being taken forward.These include making polling stations more accessible through improved training of staffand looking specifically at how people with sight loss can be further supported to voteAlso, it is important those standing for office are representative of our society. We tookaction to achieve this through a £250,000 fund for disabled candidates at the May Englishlocal elections.

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether staff at the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists are instructed to check and assess the relevancy of codes of conduct that registrants declare.

Kevin Foster: The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is an independent office holder who is responsible for maintaining and updating the lobbying register; registrants are required to state whether they comply with a code of conduct and in accordance with the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, the Registrar must be able to inspect any such code of conduct. The Transparency of Lobbying Act defines a “relevant” code of conduct as one which “governs the carrying on the business of consultant lobbying” and it is for the Registrar to determine whether a Code of Conduct meets this test.The Department does not intend to undertake a review of the codes of conduct submitted by those on the register to the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists. It is for the independent Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to determine whether a code of conduct that a registrant wishes to declare on the Register is 'relevant'. I understand that the new Registrar will shortly launch a consultation on codes of conduct.

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will conduct a review of the codes of conduct accepted by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists in light of the number of registrants declaring their own self-authored code.

Kevin Foster: The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is an independent office holder who is responsible for maintaining and updating the lobbying register; registrants are required to state whether they comply with a code of conduct and in accordance with the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, the Registrar must be able to inspect any such code of conduct. The Transparency of Lobbying Act defines a “relevant” code of conduct as one which “governs the carrying on the business of consultant lobbying” and it is for the Registrar to determine whether a Code of Conduct meets this test.The Department does not intend to undertake a review of the codes of conduct submitted by those on the register to the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists. It is for the independent Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to determine whether a code of conduct that a registrant wishes to declare on the Register is 'relevant'. I understand that the new Registrar will shortly launch a consultation on codes of conduct.

Asthma

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment his Department has made of trends in the rate of death from asthma per 100,000 people in the UK and other European countries.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 83.32 KB)

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Public Appointments

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's letter to Sir Martin Moore Bick of 10 May 2018 announcing her intention to appoint two additional panel members to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry for Phase 2, and the Grenfell Tower inquiry's subsequent update on 17 April 2019 explaining that preliminary work, for Phase 2 has already started, when the Prime Minister plans to appoint the two additional panel members to the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Right Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 246580 on 30 April 2019.

European Parliament: Elections

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether legislative changes would be required to allow EU citizens living in the UK that are registered for local elections to be registered automatically to vote in EU elections.

Kevin Foster: An EU citizen must complete the European Parliament Voter Registration Form (UC1 Form) in order to be entered on a register of European Parliamentary Electors. Entry on the register entitles the person to vote. The UC1 form incorporates details for both the application and the declaration which the EU citizen is required to provide. The UC1 form must be submitted 12 working days before the date of the election. The 12 working day deadline is based on two provisions relating to the application process and the publication of, and alterations to, the register before the election. The provisions are contained in section 13B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and regulation 29 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001; and the equivalent provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008, as applied by Schedule 001 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001. To change the 12 working day deadline would require changes to the legislation. Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU citizens’ declarations to their Home State to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice, both here and in another EU country. The Council Directive specifies that this has to be done “sufficiently in advance of polling day

Government Departments: Land

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value is of land and property sold by the Government since 2010.

Oliver Dowden: Government raised over £3.46 billion from sales of land and property between April 2010 and March 2018. Departments are expected to identify land as surplus where it is no longer required for operational purposes. Managing Public Money states that Departments should dispose of surplus sites within 3 years. In 2017 the Office of Government Property published the Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, providing detailed guidance on how to plan for and execute land disposals. As part of the Government Estate Strategy 2018, the Office of Government is leading on a Government commitment to release £5 billion land and property in 2015 - 2020.